Destined Shadows
by SRSK
Summary: Part four of Masked Paradise series. Riku and Saiyoku's travels during Kingdom Hearts 2. Same disclaimer applies.
1. The 1st Day

**Destined Shadows**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Kingdom Hearts Franchise... (Saiyoku): *sighs* Except for me, yada yada yada... (Me): Don't ruin my fun!**

Riku held Saiyoku's arm to keep her from moving.

"It's just… do you… still feel the same way about me? Even though… I look like this?" He asked quietly, avoiding her eyes.

Saiyoku paused and looked behind her in disbelief, "What?" She asked, her voice shaking with a small laugh. She turned around to face him and he let go so he wasn't twisting her arm, "I…" She hugged him, wrapping her arms around him tight, "I still love you."

"You… what?" Riku's eyes grew wide and his face grew red. That wasn't what he had been expecting. Saiyoku just laughed into his chest and pulled away, running through the Dark portal, leaving a stunned Riku behind. He couldn't believe what he just heard her say.

"C'mon Riku!" Her voice sounded from inside the portal, and Riku walked through in a dazed form of mind.

He joined her on the other side in the hotel, the fake nighttime already showing through the windows. He shook his head, "How could you just say something like that and run off?" He asked. She was already sprawled on the couch, her hands behind her head.

"Hm?"

"I did hear what I thought I heard, didn't I?"

"And what DID you hear me say?"

"That you love me."

She stood up and looked him straight in the eye, "Then you heard me correctly." She went into her bedroom and halfway closed the door, "Goodnight. I'll see you in the morning." She shut the door all the way, leaving Riku still in disbelief. He clenched his head in hands and just thought to himself, _why does she have to be so nonchalant about this kind of stuff?_

He sighed and decided to head in for the night, the door shutting behind him as we went to bed, the Darkness haunting him in his dreams.

--

"Good morning DiZ."

DiZ turned to the two of them as they walked through the door, "Good morning you two."

"How's Roxas?" Riku asked him, rubbing the back of his head tiredly.

"I think he took to his new personality well. You wouldn't be able to tell he was part of the Organization or that he didn't belong in Twilight Town. Yesterday was the planning and reforming process, so now it's as if he had always lived there. Also, Roxas had his first day spending time with his new friends… of course he's already been faced with a problem…"

"What's going on there now?"

"Everyone's still asleep."

"As it should be." Riku muttered, his hood still over his head. How he still wanted to be in his bed.

"Cranky little bugger…" Saiyoku smacked him in the back of his head playfully. She peered over DiZ's shoulder and saw the sleepy simulated Twilight Town on the monitor. He stood up and offered her the chair, "I have to take care of a few more details on the town. For now, you two need to look after Roxas. If anything goes wrong, then come and find me."

"What could go wrong?" Saiyoku asked, shrugging her shoulders. DiZ laughed coldly, "We'll soon find out."

He left without another word, leaving Riku and Saiyoku to handle watching after Roxas… though none of them knew how to use a computer.

"Let's find Roxas." Saiyoku said, anxious to test it out, but Riku grabbed her hand and shook his head, "Let's not."

"What? Come on, if we have to watch him then we need to be able to see him."

"Do YOU know how to work a computer?"

"No."

"Neither do I. We could break it or do something to Roxas that would prevent Sora from waking up."

Suddenly, one of the keys on the computer changed to a green color and began flashing, which freaked both of them out.

"What did you do, Saiyoku?"

"I didn't do anything! The key just started doing that!"

"Well, what do we do?"

"I don't know… Press it?" She reached forward and clicked on the green button, which stopped it from flashing. The other smaller monitors surrounding the main one all switched from the screens of different data to different places in Twilight Town, including Roxas' bedroom. The sound flipped on and the main monitor changed from the whole of Twilight Town to Sora's data.

"Well, that wasn't so bad." She said, sighing with relief that the whole thing didn't explode.

"You're lucky. You could've broken something."

"Wait! Shush! He's waking up!"

"He can't hear us, moron."

"I know, but this is our job. I wanna know what he's saying."

"He hasn't said anything yet. He's just waking up."

"Shut up."

Saiyoku watched, Riku peering over her shoulder. Roxas sat up in his bed, pushing the covers off and yawning. DiZ had gone the extra mile in setting up Roxas' room like that.

"_Another dream about him..."_ Roxas muttered sleepily.

"Him? Is he talking about Sora?"

"We'll ask DiZ when he gets back."

Roxas turned to the giant window beside his bed and pushed it open, receiving a nice breeze from the sunset filled air. The bells were chiming on the clock tower at the top of the Station; a nice good morning to the waking town. The trains and tram were already up and running, sending absolutely no one anywhere.

He got up out of bed, and Saiyoku immediately spun around in her chair.

"Yep, this is where I stop watching. I'll start watching again when he's done."

Riku was already sitting on the ground beside the massive computer, waiting for something more interesting.

"Hey, Saiyoku?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure." She spun her chair again to face him, "What'cha need?"

"Can you not call me Riku while DiZ is around?"

"Huh?"

"If I'm going to look like him and sound like him, then I might as well be called him… so from now on, please call me Ansem."

"No. I'll do anything but that. Just because you look like him doesn't mean that you ARE him; you're still Riku underneath."

"Please, Saiyoku. If you won't do it for that… then think of it as a sign of resolve. I helped in the destruction of all those worlds… there's so much I need to atone for. This is how I'll do it. I will no longer be myself."

Saiyoku sighed and glanced back at the computer screen, instantly regretting it. She quickly regained her composure, "I had a little to do with that too, you know."

"You did not. You may have been there, but against your own will."

"That's not it. I WAS there; I could've stopped you from making those wrong decisions."

"No you couldn't have. I was too stubborn then to have really listened to you."

"But I could've tried harder. Even if you hadn't listened to me, I still could have said that I had tried. But I can't really even say that. Sure I pestered you about it every now and then, but I didn't REALLY try to get you to change your mind."

Riku sighed, "Then what are you saying? Do you want to do something to atone for your mistakes too?"

"That was my own personal agreement."

"What?"

She smirked, "I don't like the fact that you want me to call you Ansem in front of DiZ—"

"Or Naminè, or anyone else."

"What? Oh, okay… fine. I don't like the fact that you want me to call you Ansem in front of DiZ, Naminè, or really anyone else except when it's just the two of us, BUT I will let it slide as my own form of small atonement. Happy?"

"Thank you."

"Now, let's see if Roxas is done." She glanced back at the screen. He wasn't there anymore, but was running toward the Usual Spot instead. She continued to stare at the screen as he joined up with Olette, who was on her way there as well.

"Whoa, hard to believe that these guys are fake! Olette looks exactly the same, and sounds and acts like her too!"

"DiZ is really amazing at that."

Saiyoku kept her eyes on the screen, fascinated by how complex DiZ had made his simulation. Every detail was in order as the two friends joined Hayner and Pence inside their hangout. The three in the back kept up a conversation—Hayner obviously furious about something—while Roxas kept to himself towards the front. He kept looking at his hands, thinking hard, all other conversation not registering in his head. The train could be heard rattling on the tracks above, sending a shower of dust every once in a while when it passed.

"_Man, doesn't that tick you off?"_ Hayner asked Pence for reassurance, and he nodded, _"Yeah, that's just wrong."_

"What are they talking about?" Riku asked her, confused.

"I think they're talking about the problem DiZ mentioned. Whatever it is, I don't know yet."

"_Seifer's gone too far this time."_ Olette complained. The three friends all looked over at Roxas, waiting from his feedback on the situation. He hadn't heard what they were talking about, so he just went with a little hesitant nod. Hayner rolled his eyes and jumped down from his 'seat' on the water heater to the next door building.

"_I mean, it's true that stuff's been stolen around town. And we've got a score to settle with Seifer and everything. So if he wants to think we did it, I can't really blame him."_ Hayner began as he crossed the room before stopping in front of Olette,

"_See… that's not what really bugs me. What REALLY bugs me is that he's goin' around tellin' everybody that we're the thieves! Now the whole town and their mothers are treating us like the Kelpto Club!"_ He continued on before stopping next to Roxas and looking at him, his face clenched with anger, _"Have you ever been this ticked off before in your life? 'Cause I haven't. Nuh-uh, NEVER."_

"Wonder what was stolen."

"Who knows?"

He turned away from Roxas and beat his fist in his palm, _"Now… what to do."_

Neither Olette nor Pence could think of anything, so they turned to Roxas, who was still only half paying attention. He pulled something out of the top of his head, _"Uh, well… We could find the real thieves. That would set the record straight."_

Pence stood up, _"Hey, that sounds fun!"_

Hayner became skeptical, _"What about Seifer?"_

Roxas continued with this idea, _"First, we gotta clear our names. Once we find the real culprit, everyone will get off our backs."_

Hayner moaned, upset that he couldn't deal with Seifer first. Pence picked up his camera and became worried, looking around the same place as his camera had been.

"_Oh, no! They're gone! Our---- are gone!" _Pence yelled, not finding what he had been looking for. He gripped his throat and tried to get the word out, but nothing came.

"_All our ----, gone?" _Hayner asked, understanding immediately. He did the same thing, wondering what was going on.

Olette gave it a try, but couldn't say it either, _"You can't say ---- why not?"_

Saiyoku looked at Riku, "I'm not going crazy am I, or are they really not able to say a certain word?"

Riku stood up and joined her again, watching the monitor and listening closely, "No, I wonder what word it is."

"We'll find out… Hey, wait. Maybe there's something wrong with it. Go get DiZ."

"Right."

Pence put down his camera, _"But you do understand what I'm saying, right? Our ---- are gone!"_

Roxas stood up and joined the circle, _"Stolen… And not just the ----. The word ----. They stole it, too!"_

"_What kind of thief is that?"_ Hayner asked, folding his arms, _"Seifer could never have pulled that off."_

"_Yeah."_ Roxas agreed, happy that he gave up on Seifer.

Riku arrived shortly with DiZ, the man quickly taking over the chair. He pressed several buttons when suddenly the screen with Sora's data on it switched to a screen with tons of numbers and data and codes. The screen turned red and began to flash, a buzzer sounding off.

"They found him already." DiZ said, exasperated.

"What?" Saiyoku and Riku asked simultaneously.

"Dusks found their way into the simulation. This very mansion is also in the simulation, but provides an entry point though it is needed for the extraction of Sora's memories. It seems they found a weakness. We'll let Roxas take care of them."

"_All right, time for some recon!"_ Hayner said, and they all ran out of their hangout, Pence grabbing his camera on the way out.

The screen with the data and codes switched back to Sora's data, which showed two loading bars. One was 75% completed, while the other one was empty. Another meter below it kept racing up and down.

"His heart is returning. Doubtless he'll awaken very soon." DiZ said, but Saiyoku had her eyes fixated on the screen with Roxas. He just collapsed onto the floor, and she could hear DiZ's voice from him directly, but also from the computer. This didn't escape his notice.

"I believe he heard me, too. This dusk infiltration is already messing up my simulation. Once they're gone, things will calm down a bit."

Roxas got back up, brushing himself off and showing plain confusion on his face. Olette came back to see what was up, _"Roxas, c'mon."_ He nodded and ran with her to join the rest of their friends to head over to the Marketplace. They talked to several people for information before heading over to the Sandlot where Rai, Fuu, and another person Saiyoku didn't know were facing the scoreboard.

The small person in Seifer's gang pointed to the foursome when they approached, alerting Rai and Fuu. They spun around, Fuu pointing to them in accusation.

"_Thieves."_ She said.

Rai held up his fist, _"That was low, y'know!"_

The other person didn't say anything, but shook their head, their hands on their yellow mage's hat.

"_Oh yeah?" _Hayner said, not thinking of anything else to say to that. Seifer walked into the Sandlot from underneath the archway that led into Station Heights.

"_Nice comeback there, blondie."_

"_What'd you say?"_ Hayner held up his fist and growled.

Seifer scowled, _"You can give us back the ---- now."_

"_Yeah! You're the only ones that would take it, y'know?"_ Rai said, while Seifer joined his gang, pointing at the group of friends.

"_That was undeniable proof that we totally owned you lamers. So what did you do? Burn it? Ha, not that we need some ---- to prove that you're losers."_

"_Replay."_

Seifer laughed at his friend's idea, _"Now you're talking!"_ The four gang members took their stances, while Hayner and Roxas were really the only ones that took their battle ready positions.

"_I guess if you get on your knees and beg, MAYBE I'll let it slide."_

Roxas stood normally and approached him and took a deep breath, while Hayner reached out in silent protest. Seifer's gang laughed when Roxas got down on one knee and bowed his head.

"_Roxas!"_ Hayner yelled at him in disappointment.

Roxas looked up at the three Struggle bat choices that were lying around on the ground from previous matches. He ran up to the closest one he could find and stood at a distance from Seifer, who just smirked.

"_Roxas, focus!"_ Pence called out to him, and Roxas nodded, attacking Seifer. He hit him with several quick combos, taking him down easily, but Seifer just kept getting back up, and Roxas and he were still in the same positions.

"_Come on… quit playin' around and fight!"_ Seifer taunted, but Roxas wasn't intimidated. He leaped forward and laid a mean combo that sent Seifer to the ground and his friends to his side.

"_Seifer's not feelin' so hot, y'know!"_

"_Tournament decides."_

His two friends turned around and helped him up while Pence pulled out his camera and steadied it for a picture. Roxas turned and the camera clicked, Pence sticking out a thumbs-up. A Dusk instantly wrapped around him and grabbed the camera, jumping and flipping through the air in an escape.

"_What was that?"_ Hayner asked, skeptical.

"_The thief?"_ Olette offered, and all four of them took off after it, splitting up to catch it. Roxas kept his eye on it and followed it through the Marketplace and out into the Forest, trailing it to the Old Mansion where the gate was padlocked shut. It had stopped in front of it while Roxas confronted his new enemy, still holding the Struggle bat. The creature's mouth unzipped, showing it was ready to fight.

Roxas made the first move, hitting the silver creature with everything he had, but it barely did anything to the Nobody.

"_It's no use…"_

DiZ chuckled, "Oh, is that right? Well then, try this."

Roxas' Struggle bat was covered in codes and numbers, changing the bat into a digitalized Kingdom Key. The Keyblade immediately sensed the enemy and was ready to fight, almost pulling Roxas to it.

"_What? What… what is this thing?"_

"Nice." Saiyoku commented, now fully enjoying watching Roxas. The boy took his stance again— which she noticed was very similar to Sora's battle stance—and he attacked the Nobody head on again, slide dashing around it to confuse it. He took it out after a few more hits, and the Dusk disappeared in a burst of light, pictures fluttering to the ground where it had stood.

DiZ took away the Keyblade, "We don't want him to attract any more of them, now do we?"

--

Saiyoku watched as the loading bar began to fill, the memories that were stuck inside Sora were flashing against the screen. A computerized voice suddenly said, _"Restoration at twelve percent."_ It startled her, and the loading bar stopped moving. Riku approached the computer again after leaning against the wall for some time.

"Organization miscreants… They've found us." DiZ repeated, really annoyed and exasperated.

"But… why would the Nobodies steal photographs?" Riku asked.

"Both are nothing but data to them. The fools could never tell the difference. We are running out of time. Naminè must make haste."

"Understood. We'll let her know."


	2. The 2nd Day

Roxas awoke abruptly, sitting up and looking at his hand. _"A key… blade?"_ He clenched his hand and got dressed, Saiyoku once again looking away. She turned to Riku, "And how did we end up with this job again?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "DiZ had to go somewhere again. Don't ask me why."

"This is his job, so why are we the ones manning it?"

"Because we owe him for restoring Sora's memories."

"Grr… why did we sign up for this?"

"Because you wanted to help Sora." DiZ said as he walked through the doorway. Saiyoku immediately stood up, surrendering the computer. DiZ sat down and pressed a few keys, "So you hate sitting at the computer and watching him, huh? Then why don't you watch him in person?" The same machine that had sent Roxas to the simulated Twilight Town glowed with a small beam.

Saiyoku looked at him like he was crazy, "What?"

"Saiyoku, I think he wants us to touch the beam."

"No way! I am NOT being sucked into a computer!"

"You're going anyway." Riku grabbed her by the arm and dragged her toward it, shoving her arm against the beam. She disappeared in an array of numbers and codes before Riku turned to DiZ.

"How do we get back?"

"Return to the mansion. The beam will be there just like this."

"Got it, but where will we end up in there?"

"The Sandlot."

"All right." He touched the beam and was shot into the computer, DiZ laughing as he disappeared, "Saiyoku has such a problem with technology."

--

Saiyoku digitalized into the empty Sandlot in the same position she had entered, feeling very strange. Riku appeared not long after her. She glared at him, not appreciating the fact that she had practically been shoved into the computer world.

"Why did you have to do that?"

"Well, why did you have to resist so much?"

"Touché." She muttered, "Okay, I'm gonna head over here and see what's up while you go somewhere else."

"You just want to do this alone, don't you?"

"After you got to take Roxas down alone? Heck yeah. See ya later." She headed off into the back alley where the usual spot was. Roxas was right in the middle and Saiyoku quickly pulled up her hood. She leaned against the wall and relaxed a bit.

"A Keyblade…" Roxas muttered, still puzzled about this strange weapon. He looked to his left where there was a small stick lying against the wall. He picked it up and swung it, expecting it to turn into the mysterious key shaped weapon, "What was that about?" He asked himself, and tossed the stick behind him, which hit Saiyoku on the chest.

_Um, ow?_ Saiyoku rolled her eyes at the klutz.

Roxas heard the impact and turned around, his face apologetic, "Oh!"

_I'm bored… _Saiyoku thought to herself. Sure she had wanted to do this alone, but Roxas wasn't really having an exciting day… so it was almost exactly like watching him on the screen. She walked back into the Sandlot and looked around for something to do, Roxas calling after her, "Sorry… about that…"

She decided she shouldn't REALLY slack off in her duties, or DiZ would be mad. She jumped up onto the scoreboard and onto the building that had a view of the Usual Spot. She couldn't see anything, but she suddenly heard Hayner shout from inside, "That's it, no more ice cream for you!"

"What the heck are they doing in there?" Saiyoku wondered to herself out loud. After awhile, Hayner and the gang rushed out of the Usual Spot and ran over to Station Heights. Roxas was always the slow one of the bunch, and as usual, Hayner directed him over to where they were standing. The other three were looking up at a poster advertising the upcoming Struggle Tournament. Saiyoku managed to catch up with them, watching them on the roof tops.

"Only two days to go. You and I have to make the finals! That way, no matter who wins, the four of us split the prize!" Hayner punched Roxas in the shoulder as a sign of friendship. Roxas smiled, "Okay, you're on."

"You two are gonna clean up!" Pence said, while Olette nodded enthusiastically, "Go get 'em!"

Hayner and Roxas made an 'x' with their right arms in a form of sealing, "It's a promise." Hayner told him, and his best friend nodded.

"You've always had a thing for high places." Riku told Saiyoku from behind her, making her jump, as usual.

"Jeez, Riku, do you have to do that ALL THE TIME? And this time with that voice of yours, you scared me even more so 'cause I'm so used to Ansem having that voice." She scolded him while lowering her hood.

"Relax. You'll get used to it after a while."

"I hope so." She peered over the edge of the roof but didn't see the group of friends, "Agh! Where'd they go?"

"Nice."

"Shut up, it's your fault." She ran toward the Marketplace, hoping that they'd be there. They were, thankfully, but they were all split up, all doing different jobs… everyone except for Hayner, who was nowhere to be seen. Riku had disappeared again, so Saiyoku just sat on the edge of the building, waiting for something new to happen.

"Here. Oh, and Hayner's up at the Station." Riku said again, nearly sending Saiyoku falling off the building from scaring her.

"I hate you…" She said as she turned around, and in his hands were two Sea-Salt ice creams. He was holding one out, but when she reached for it, he pulled away.

"I guess you can't have it then."

"Give it to me, Riku."

"How about when you take that back?"

"Fine… in about a hundred years."

"Now what happened to the fact that you love me?"

"That has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that you nearly scared me off the roof."

"It has absolutely everything to do with the fact that I nearly scared you off the roof."

"Just give me the ice cream." She stood up and reached for it, but he held both ice creams out of her reach, "Uhn… unfair! You're taller now!"

"I've always been taller than you."

"Yeah, but not this much taller!" She stood on her tiptoes and used his shoulder as something to help her reach, but he slid out from underneath her, almost making her fall over. She sighed and glared at him but decided a different tactic. She curled her lip and formed a pout, but he just laughed.

"That doesn't work."

"It used to." She said, quickly changing her expression.

"Yeah, when you were six."

"And you always fell for it. Now give me the ice cream."

"No." He said simply, hiding the ice creams behind his back. Saiyoku peered over the edge, and a brilliant idea formed in her head. She stepped backward and teetered over, making it look like it was an accident.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" She yelled when she 'tried' to catch her balance. When she fell off, she opened a Dark portal on the side of the building and she dove right inside after catching her footing on a spot beneath a window. She quickly opened another portal inside Betwixt and Between while Riku quickly dashed to the side and looked over, believing her. "Saiyoku?" He called out, starting to worry when he didn't see her.

Saiyoku popped out of another portal right behind him and grabbed her ice cream out of his hands. She closed the portal and stuffed the ice cream into her mouth, smiling and laughing. Riku spun around and Saiyoku could just make out the features of a very scary scowl on his face underneath the hood, which was even scarier since his face looked like Ansem's.

"That. Was NOT. Funny." He said through gritted teeth, but Saiyoku just smiled mischievously, "Never underestimate me when it comes to the deliciousness of Sea-Salt ice cream." She said before taking another bite.

"I have a good mind to REALLY push you off the roof."

"You wouldn't." She told him happily.

"No, I probably wouldn't… but I will do this." He said as he gave her a good roundhouse kick to the shoulder.

"OW!" She exclaimed, just about dropping her ice cream. She stuffed it back into her mouth and peered over the side again. The three that had been stuck working were chatting while heading up the hill to the Station. Saiyoku jumped across building to building, Riku right behind her, to keep up with them. Eventually, they ran out of buildings and stepped through a portal to stand on top of one of the rooftops across from them.

The whole gang grouped together, each handing Olette munny they had earned. She counted it all and returned to the group, smiling.

"Nice work, everyone. Added to what we started with, we now have… Tada! 5000 munny!" She pulled out a unique munny pouch stuffed full with munny and showed it to everyone.

"Sweet!" Hayner exclaimed, and Olette handed Roxas the pouch.

"_Saiyoku, Riku!"_ DiZ's voice resounded inside their heads, and they looked around, and then at each other. Saiyoku scowled, "What is it?"

"_Get that munny pouch!"_

"Um… okay?" Saiyoku said, but Riku jumped down off the roof, handing her the Popsicle stick that he was finished with. Saiyoku jumped down after him and grabbed his arm before leaving, "Wait. Use this. He hit me with it earlier, so it's payback." Saiyoku handed him a stick that was lying on the ground. Riku shrugged and fizzed out of sight, Roxas tripping and hitting his face hard on the pavement.

The stick landed nearby, a sort of significance towards Saiyoku. Riku grabbed Roxas roughly by the arm and pulled him to his feet, "Can you feel Sora?" He asked him while taking the pouch of munny from his hands.

"What?"

"Roxas! Three minutes!" Hayner yelled at him, and Riku took that time to disappear again by Saiyoku's side.

"Time to go back." He told her, and they stepped into a Dark portal once Roxas and the gang went into the Station.

--

"_Restoration at twenty-eight percent."_ The computerized voice said when the loading bar stopped. Saiyoku sighed and slid down against the wall and sitting.

"Naminè, hurry." DiZ said to himself.

Riku leaned against the wall next to Saiyoku and was busy tossing the munny bag he had stolen up into the air, "Is it really that hard to make a beach?"

_Oh, is that what they were up to?_ Saiyoku thought, leaning her head against her knees. DiZ turned to Riku, "We'd be giving the enemy another entry point."

"And this?" Riku asked, holding out the bag of munny.

"We can always buy some Sea-Salt ice cream." DiZ laughed, and Saiyoku's head immediately perked up, liking the sound of that. He turned back to his monitors, "Objects from that town must be kept out of the real world. You can delete that."

Riku continued to toss it up in the air, thinking to himself, _I have a better use for this._ Saiyoku rested her head on her knees again when he said that, disappointed. She stood up, feeling restless, decided to visit Sora, where Naminè was hard at work. She looked up at the pod where he was fast asleep. She gave a faint smile,

"Boy… you have no idea how much your best friend misses you, Sora… He's doing everything he can to help you. Wish I could say the same…"


	3. The 3rd Day

"DiZ, may I please meet Roxas?" Naminè asked him, leaving her usual sanctum of the Pod Room or her White Room. She stood before all three of them, surprising them all.

"Why? You should focus on Sora." DiZ asked her, trying to direct her back to her duty of chaining together Sora's memories.

"I think… it'll help me extract the memories once I meet him. If I come in contact with him, I could reach deeper into his memories and pull them out. Please DiZ; I really do think it will help."

DiZ sighed, understanding her reasoning, "Alright. You two will escort her." He looked at Saiyoku and Riku, who both nodded, though Saiyoku added rolling her eyes.

"Thank you." Naminè said to all of them, and she stood on the machine. DiZ pressed the button and she was coded and dematerialized into the simulation. Riku followed suit and Saiyoku went in as well.

When they arrived at Station Heights in the computer Twilight Town, The whole place was practically deserted of life. The sun was in its usual place, but no one was around.

"They must all still be sleeping." Saiyoku looked around, lowering her hood when she felt it was safe enough.

"Saiyoku, I'll take Naminè wherever she needs to go. You go watch Roxas until she's ready."

"What!?"

"Don't you feel it would be a little strange that there would be three people, two of them dressed in black coats and one with his hood up all the time?"

"It's already strange."

He ignored her, "We need to split up."

"Grr… why do you want to be with Naminè?"

"Because I'm afraid to leave her with you." He said simply, a smile in his voice. Saiyoku gave him a wicked smile, "Well, when you put it that way…"

"C'mon Naminè. Where are we off to?"

"Um… how about we go down to the Marketplace?" She trotted down the road with Riku following behind her, his long strides almost overtaking her. Saiyoku frowned and her 'ticked off' look flashed over her expression for just a second, but then it was gone. She jumped up onto the rooftops again and jumped from building to building until she could see the Usual Spot again.

Roxas came walking down the street right on cue, going straight inside the Usual Spot. A few moments later he came walking out, a confused expression pasted on his Sora-ish face. He wandered over to Station Heights, Saiyoku trailing him from above. She watched as he found Pence and Olette a little further down the hill.

"Hey." He called to them, and Olette happily responded, "Morning." The two friends moved to join their friend, but they froze in place… like, literally. Time had completely stopped for the two, but neither for Roxas nor Saiyoku.

"Huh…?" Roxas ran over to his two friends, but was stopped by the magically appearing Naminè. She smiled, "Hello, Roxas."

"I don't even see the point on going over there… total waste of time." Riku muttered behind Saiyoku, who jumped again, still not used to his voice. She welcomed him with a smack to the face, making Riku hunch over in pain.

"I think you would've learned your lesson by now." She sighed and looked at him, her face full of skepticism. He stood up straight and flicked her between the eyes before returning his attention to the two Nobodies below them. Saiyoku did the same while she rubbed where his finger had hit her pointedly.

"And you are…?" Roxas asked, but Naminè held up her hand to stop him, "I wanted to meet you at least once." She folded her hands and continued grinning softly.

"Me?"

She nodded, "Yes, you."

Roxas rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, not really sure what to say to this strange girl. Naminè turned away and walked past Roxas' friends. Riku nudged Saiyoku, "That's my cue. You keep following Roxas."

"Got it." She said in a monotone. As soon as Naminè and Riku were out of sight, Olette and Pence immediately unfroze as if nothing had happened.

"Olette dragged me along to go shopping." Pence said, implying that he wanted Roxas to come with him to save him from the torture. _Sounds like someone I know…_ Saiyoku thought, grinning.

"Hey, you wanna come with us?" Olette asked him, but Roxas did a double take, "Um, uhh, wait… did you just see that…" He looked over the hill but didn't see anyone. Olette put one hand on her hip and both she and Pence sighed.

"He's stalling…"

"Very well, then. We'll see you later, Roxas, okay?" Olette said good-naturedly. The two friends took off, leaving Roxas in a sort of dazed/disbelieving state.

"Y-Yeah," Roxas turned back down the hill and cocked his head, "Did she go to that haunted mansion?" He headed off to investigate, while Saiyoku followed on the rooftops.

"Haunted mansion? Is that what they call it here? Huh, I guess with all of us strange characters going in and out and it supposedly being abandoned, I guess you would think it was haunted." Saiyoku chuckled and followed closely behind him. She ran out of rooftops so she had to jump down and trail him by ducking in and out of places, hoping to stay out of his sight.

When they reached the Marketplace, both of them could see Naminè standing underneath the archway that the tram usually ran under. Roxas immediately took off after her, but she continued walking away until by the time he got to the underpass, she was gone. Saiyoku followed him through the crack in the wall and had to find some other place to hide since he had stopped dead after getting to the forest.

"Huh?" Dark tendrils crept up underneath him, more like smoke than tendrils really. It opened up a hole in mid-air and three Dusks clambered out and surrounded him. _Saiyoku, do not interfere until I tell you._ DiZ's voice echoed inside her mind. She grimaced, unhappy that she couldn't fight the Nobodies.

One of the Dusks floated above Roxas and grabbed his hand, pulling on him, but Roxas recoiled and ran back through the hole, "Huh? Lemme go!"

_Now Saiyoku._ The three Dusks approached the hole, but Saiyoku took them out with her Keyblade, only to have three more appear in front of her and three behind her to go after Roxas. She had no choice but to fight the ones in front of her first, but she needed to hurry to get the ones after Roxas. She took care of them quickly and ran after the others.

When she arrived at the Sandlot, time was standing still again; the Dusks were gone and so was Roxas. Naminè and Riku were standing there instead, waiting patiently.

"Hey, where'd Roxas go?" She asked them.

"Something happened and DiZ needed to transfer him somewhere. No idea where though. He wants us to head over to the Mansion."

"Alright. I was actually just on my way over there with Roxas until those Dusks appeared." She opened a Dark portal since it was easier. They left and entered the Mansion in a room Saiyoku had never seen before. It was all white again, but this time, you couldn't tell where the floor was or the walls or even the ceiling. Different gradients in the color helped some, but it was still all white either way. Everything echoed too, as if the place was enormous.

The three all made themselves at home; Riku leaning against a wall, Saiyoku sitting down against the same one, and Naminè sat up high on a raised part of the room. It was quite a while before something actually happened. One minute it was just the three of them, the next: there was Roxas, holding out his hand as if someone had offered theirs to him. Naminè seemed to have been expecting him, and she smiled.

He looked up at her on the raised surface and opened his mouth to speak, but Naminè held up a finger to her lips.

"My name is Naminè. Roxas… Do you remember your true name?"

Both Saiyoku and Riku knew from what DiZ had told them that what she was getting at must not be revealed to Roxas if he was to cooperate. Riku instantly reached Naminè and grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to her feet, "Say no more, Naminè." Saiyoku reached her soon after.

"But if no one tells him, Roxas will…"

"It's best he doesn't know the truth." Riku interrupted her, and Saiyoku nodded in agreement.

"Hey! You're that pickpocket!" Roxas pointed to Riku who merely opened a Dark portal behind Roxas, definitely freaking the kid out. Saiyoku came up behind Roxas who was too busy backing away from the eerie portal and shoved him headfirst into it by the head.

"Nicely done." Riku said approvingly.

"You just appreciate that because you and I know that Sora needs a good shove to the head once in a while. I did it because if Sora needs it, Roxas DEFINITELY needs it." She laughed and opened up her own portal. Riku turned to Naminè, "Are you fine here?"

She nodded, so Riku left through the portal with Saiyoku, the passageway closing behind them.

--

"_Restoration at forty eight percent."_ The loading bar stopped. Sora's memories were almost completely restored…

"Was that Naminè made of data?" Riku asked, confused. Naminè had constantly disappeared and reappeared while he was with her, and it had been seriously confusing and annoying.

"No… Naminè hijacked the data herself. Look what she's done now… I had attempted to only send a copy of her, but she confused the machine and allowed the Nobodies to enter easily. She's totally beyond my control!" DiZ hit the nearby monitor to his right.

"Calm down." Both Riku and Saiyoku told him.

"It doesn't matter. As long as Naminè accomplishes her goal… We needn't worry about what befalls Roxas." DiZ said, his tone still full of frustration.


	4. The 4th Day

"Hey, Saiyoku. Wake up." Riku banged on her doorway, opening the door and flipping on the lights. She jolted from the sudden change in sleeping atmosphere and turned over, her eyes flashing.

"What. Do. You. Want?" She said grouchily, her voice full of sleep.

"Get up." He walked into the room and grabbed her Organization coat lying at the foot of her bed and tossed it to her face—the only visible part of her body.

"Oh sure, I can't come in your room on normal circumstances, but it's just fine for you to come in here." She said, throwing one of the nearby pillows at his face, missing.

"You're obviously awake enough to make sarcastic remarks like that. C'mon, it's 7:00."

She froze, did a double take at the clock and stared him down, "You woke me up at 7:00? Why?" She growled.

"We need to earn more munny."

"And the word 'we' meaning 'me'."

"Precisely."

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Most fun I've had in a while."

"That's it!" She jumped out of bed and socked him in the stomach. He crumpled over from the blow, "Jeez…"

"Get out. Get out now!" She turned him around and kicked him out… literally, slamming the door behind him.

--

The Sandlot was full of people; banners pinned up on the Struggle building, a huge sign hung across the garage, and the fighting platform in the middle. Fireworks were shot up into the air, making the crowd roar and cheer. A chubby man in a yellow vest and green shirt stepped onto the platform.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Struggle-fiends of Twilight Town! It's time for summer's most sizzling clash! That's right! Today is the day for the Struggle and title match!"

Riku sat on the roof-tops half-watching. He wasn't really interested. Saiyoku approached him from behind, holding two Sea-Salt ice creams in her hands. From her perspective, he looked as though he was half-dead, all depressed looking. She stepped next to him and knocked him on the head three times, as if knocking on a door. He jumped and glared at her, "What was that for?"

She smiled, "I know it's not customary, but I thought I'd at least knock before I crashed your emo party."

"…I'm not emo." He muttered, taking the ice cream she offered him. She sat down next to him, "You're acting like it. Oh! I get it! You're in your denial stage. It's understandable… I mean you're sixteen and stuck inside a forty-year-old's body, your best friend is going to be asleep forever unless we fix his memory, I'm going to annoy you until the day you die, the worlds are falling into Darkness again and the only savior for them is asleep inside a pod, the Organization is rising and Xemnas will soon make his first major move… Yeah, I can see how you're emo yet in denial."

"That proved absolutely nothing. How about you try this reason: I'm tired."

"Oh, YOU'RE tired." She grabbed his hand holding his ice cream and shoved it all the way into him mouth. He spit it out quickly, "Agh! Cold, cold, cold, cold!"

The crowd interrupted them when an outbreak of fangirls yelled, "Setzeerrrrrr!" A man with silver hair and auburn eyes, black jeans, white long sleeve shirt, lavender bandana tied around his waist, a black and gold coat with purple lining wrapped around his shoulders, and the Struggle Champion Belt slung over his shoulder stood before the crowd, feeling oh so high and mighty.

The crowd chanted his name, and the announcer went along with them, "Yes, the crowd is fired up, so you know what comes next: Let's…" He waved his hands and the crowd cheered, "STRUGGLE!" More fireworks burst in the sky, and the announcer was replaced with a new one, a thinner man with blonde hair and a black yellow and orange striped jacket.

"Hey, now. It's time to introduce today's combatants! The four bad boys who struggled their way through the preliminaries!"

"Bad boys my—" Riku began, but Saiyoku shushed him, "Shh! I wanna watch this!"

"—Disciplinary Committee: Seifer! Completely out of nowhere—who knew he'd make it so far THIS year? Vivi! An underground favorite and local attitude problem: Hayner! It's his first trip to the finals! And Struggler number 4, who happens to be my absolute favorite customer: Roxas! So—who will win this sweltering summer Struggle? Who will take home the grand prize? The summa cum laude of Struggle—the Four Crystal Trophy!" The man pointed to a huge trophy that consisted of a huge blue swirl statue with four different colored crystal balls in each curl of the statue.

"AND… a chance to take on our defending champion, Setzer!"

Setzer waved to the crowd and lifted up the Struggle belt in victory. The crowd cheered louder, the many fans all excited for this summer tournament.

"It won't be long now, folks. I suggest our challengers go over the official Struggle Rules before we begin!"

The four contestants gathered around the two announcers. Saiyoku finished her ice cream and began tossing up her stick, trying to keep it from falling off the roof and onto one of the heads of the people in the crowd below. Riku barely ate his, so Saiyoku threatened to eat his for him if he didn't hurry and eat it.

The Struggler returned to the stands except for Roxas and Hayner, who mounted the platform and met with the chubby announcer in the center of the stage. They were handed Struggle bats and Hayner pointed his at Roxas threateningly. Roxas merely looked away, his facial expression not excitement, but sadness.

Saiyoku couldn't hear what he was saying, but Hayner looked good natured about it, and soon cheered Roxas up. They took their stances and the skinny announcer yelled, "Our first match of today's Struggle tournament will be between Roxas and his best friend Hayner!"

--

"And now, the match you've been waiting for: Roxas vs. Vivi!"

Roxas took his stance, but Vivi merely stood there, looking blankly at him. Roxas ran up to him and aimed to hit his enemy on the head, but the air shifted and slowed, making Roxas stop. Both Saiyoku and Riku realized what was happened and moved to stand up or jump down, but as did the rest of the town, they froze, time standing still. Only Roxas was left unaffected.

Vivi began to glow white and morphed into a Dusk, two more appearing around Roxas.

"Again!?" Roxas yelled, on his guard when his Struggle bat changed to his Keyblade, "Again…" He took his stance and took out the Nobodies, one by one. More appeared, but he sent them away like the first three. Roxas was out of breath by the time he was done, but he forgot all about that when he noticed that the town still hadn't unfrozen even though he had taken care of the intruders.

A sudden applause from behind him made him turn around. Another man in a black Organization coat was standing there, still clapping, "Roxas. All right. Fight fight fight."

Roxas just tilted his head, confused. The man approached him and sighed, "You really don't remember? It's me. You know, Axel." Axel lowered his hood to reveal his blazing spiky red hair, green eyes, black upside down triangle markings under his eyes, and his mischievous complexion.

"Axel?"

"Talk about blank with a capital 'B'. Man oh man, even the Dusks aren't gonna crack this one." His quick movements with his arms summoned two fiery chakrams, startling Roxas.

"Wait a sec, tell me what's going on!"

"This town is his creation, right? Which means we don't have time for a Q & A. You're coming with me, conscious or not. Then you'll hear the story." Axel took his battle stance, flipping his chakrams and twirling them in his hands.

Roxas backed away, immediately disliking the stranger who seemed to know him. The air around him shifted again and Axel forgot about his stance, "Uh oh." He looked around, making sure 'he' wasn't arriving. Roxas just became even angrier. He looked at his Keyblade and lifted it up yelling, "What's going ON!?" He threw the Kingdom Key to the ground, sending it skidding to a halt behind Axel.

He stared at it before lifting up his hand, surprised to see the Keyblade reappear there in a flash of light.

"Number 13. Roxas. The Keyblade's chosen one." The red head went back to his stance as the Keyblade seemed to glow with recognition. Roxas seemed to understand, and he took his stance, "Okay, fine! You asked for it!"

"That's more like it!" Axel told him, egging him on. He swung at Roxas with his chakrams, but Roxas dodged and came behind him, hitting him on the back with his Kingdom Key. He continued hitting him, backing him into a corner before coming off the stage and into the crowd. Axel slide dashed around him and threw his chakrams behind Roxas yelling, "Burn!" and fire erupted from his hands and followed the chakrams, trapping Roxas in between his inferno grasp.

When the fire died down, Roxas came back at him with all he had, swinging left and right and spinning around to his enemy's back and attacking him from above. Everything ended when digitalized portal opened on the platform revealing DiZ. Roxas was entirely even more confused but Axel stopped fighting, "So it was you." He jumped back a foot and spun his chakrams by his sides, bringing them up and throwing them at DiZ when they burst into flames.

The fiery weapons merely bounced off an unseen digital force field in front of DiZ, flying back to their master. DiZ turned to Roxas and ignored Axel, "Roxas, this man speaks nonsense!"

"Roxas, don't let him deceive you!"

"Roxas!"

"Roxas!"

"Roxas!"

"Roxas!"

The cries continued, the air shifting again. Roxas refused to listen, cupping his hands over his ears, "Hayner… Pence… Olette… Hayner! Pence! Olette!" He yelled, and everything was back to normal, just like that. The crowd's cheering commenced, and Saiyoku and Riku nearly fell off the roof before collapsing back onto the edge. They looked at each other, "What was that?"

"Time froze again. Roxas, you, and I are the only ones that know that here."

"You saw what happened though, right? Axel was here… and DiZ came here too."

"Yeah, I saw. But they're gone now. C'mon, we need to go talk to DiZ and make sure everything's alright with the simulation and with Sora."

"Okay."

They left the town, Saiyoku just little upset that she didn't get to see the rest of the Struggle Tournament. They explained what they had seen to DiZ, who wasn't at his computer as usual, but instead sitting in a chair inside the Dining Room. He nodded, "Yes, the defense system was down for a bit while you were in there, but it booted back up when I arrived, allowing me to get rid of Axel in there for now."

"So, nothing extremely bad?"

"No, just a few quirks and bugs that are typical for a computer. Of course none of these are good, since that lead to the intrusion of an Organization member who was after Roxas."

"Nothing to worry about?"

"As long as you keep your guard up while you're in there, then no."

"Is the Struggle Tournament still going?"

"No, it ended soon after you two came out."

"Darn!" Saiyoku complained, and left the room for the Computer Room. Riku followed her.

--

The little blue crystal fell out of the machine that transported Saiyoku and Riku to the simulated worlds. Saiyoku picked it up and examined it, "Hey, wasn't this on that trophy?" She asked Riku and handed it to him. He took it and did the same before tossing it up in his hand continuously, "Yeah."

Suddenly, a voice echoed through the room, "You don't remember my name? Thanks a lot, Kairi! O-kay, I guess I can give you a hint. Starts with an 'S'!"

Both Riku and Saiyoku looked at each other and said simultaneously, "Sora!?"

"_Restoration at seventy nine percent."_

"What was that?" Saiyoku asked, confused, but laughed, "If that was Sora, his voice definitely changed! Ha ha."

"His progress is astounding." DiZ said.

Riku caught the crystal and turned to him, "So what happened?" He placed his play toy inside the munny pouch he stole from Roxas and hid it inside his coat.

"Naminè's encounter with Roxas put his heart in contact with Kairi's. And that, in turn, affected Sora. You see? What you just heard was Sora's heart in contact with Kairi."

"Naminè… She's a wonder." Riku said, but glanced nervously at Saiyoku, preparing for a beating. Saiyoku was gone. She had left to go see Sora.

"She wasn't born like other Nobodies. She can interfere with the hearts and memories of Sora and those aligned with him."

"But whose Nobody is she?"

"I could tell you… But first, perhaps you could tell me your true name?"

Riku stared at DiZ for a moment before removing his hood and saying simply, "It's Ansem."

DiZ looked at him and then back at the monitor, his mouth stretching into a grin and then he burst out laughing, "It's an honor, Ansem!"


	5. The Final Days: The New Journey Begins

"So, you don't know whose Nobody Naminè is?"

"No. Are you saying you do?"

Saiyoku and Riku were walking along the edge of shore, the ocean washing up onto the white sand. DiZ had given them the day off, so they were spending it in numerous places, including Destiny Islands.

"No duh Sherlock. You're the one who said what helped me figure it out."

"I did?"

"Yes, you did," Saiyoku waded into the ocean, her Organization coat flowing up around her. Riku followed her, but she ducked into the cool blue water and surfaced near the islet. She climbed up onto the ladder on the back side, hopping up onto the hot sand again and resting against the Paopu tree. Her friend sighed and clambered up after her, jumping up onto the trunk and lying out against its length, both of them dripping wet.

"So, what was it I said that made you know?" Riku shook his head to remove the water and rang out his coat at the end.

"When you told me what Naminè had said to you, and what had happened between you and Zexion and how Naminè came to you in the form of Kairi… you said that when you actually met Naminè, she had the same scent as Kairi, and that's how you knew that she was the one who had come to you in the form of our friend. Also, she came in the form of Kairi, and why?" Saiyoku asked him, testing his knowledge as she shook her head, relieving her hair of the salty water.

"Because she's a friend and she knew I'd recognize her?"

"No, because Kairi is her whole self, the other half of Naminè. She came to you in that form because Kairi is closely related to her. Kairi is Naminè the same way Sora is Roxas."

Riku stayed silent and took it all in. He should've been able to figure it out easy, but he just hadn't thought much about it.

"Hey, toss one of those Paopu over." Saiyoku asked him, and he reached up and snagged one off the branch, throwing her the star shaped fruit. She chomped on it happily while Riku pulled one off too. They ate in silence for a while before Riku interrupted, "We can't come back here."

"Huh? Why not?" Saiyoku asked, startled by this sudden announcement.

"We need to focus on the Organization. If we get rid of some of them while Sora's busy with the worlds, then that saves valuable time that Xemnas could use to commence the rest of his plan."

Saiyoku thought about this for awhile, looking out at the blue sea and sky, "You're right."

"I'm what?" Riku double-checked to make sure he had heard her right. Saiyoku continued, "We can't come back. But we need to let Sora focus on the Organization… the big problem. We can help from time to time but we need to make his job easier by taking care of the bigger Heartless in the other worlds and the Nobodies. If we do that, then Sora has an easier time, valuable time isn't lost to Xemnas, and we can come back sooner. But, we can't come back here and get distracted… Besides, this place isn't home until EVERYONE comes back."

"Hm, you've really got your mind made up… more-so than I do." Riku said, sitting up and jumping down next to Saiyoku. She turned to him and smiled, "Of course. Who had to serve as your conscience last year? I learned how to do the right thing, even though I don't always do it." She laughed and handed him the rest of her Paopu fruit, "Here, I'm not as hungry anymore."

"Of course not."

They walked down the wooden bridge and hopped down off the roof of the shack and back onto the beach, where they walked down the shore again. They were silent for a time until Saiyoku stopped, looking out over the ocean, where the sun was beginning to set, "Do you think… our parents are worried about us?"

"I'm sure they are. After all, we just up and left one day, remember? They haven't seen any of us except for Kairi in a little over a year… but, where did this come from?"

"I dunno, just thinking out loud I guess."

"Hmph, sounds like you alright. Hey, even though we got the day off, we need to go back and see DiZ… make sure he doesn't need any help."

"Alright…" Saiyoku said reluctantly, and she opened the portal. Riku finished the last bit of Paopu before tossing the seed on the sand and following his friend.

--

"Sora's heart is almost complete again. All he needs is Roxas and the few memories left inside him." DiZ explained, sitting in his chair in the Dining Room across from Saiyoku in her chair. Roxas' day had gone as smoothly as it possibly could, including a chat with Naminè.

"He's almost back to normal?" Saiyoku asked for reassurance, and when DiZ nodded, she smiled. Riku entered the room after looking at a run-through of Roxas' day.

"Why did you show him the train?"

"Train? What train?" Saiyoku asked, but no one paid attention to her.

"Because he missed the trip to the beach." DiZ said, trying to hold back a laugh.

"Hmph… that's almost kind of you," said Riku.

"Now… what about you two? Are the holes in your memories starting to fill in?"

Saiyoku nodded and Riku replied, "Yes… the haze is clearing."

"The same thing is happening to everyone who had ties to Sora. Very soon, to them, he'll be like a good friend who's gone away for a year."

Riku sat down with them in his own chair and relaxed, "I've waited, and now I want to know. What is it that you want?"

DiZ looked down and closed his eyes, sighing, but looked them both straight in the eye and said forcefully, "Revenge."

"Revenge…" Riku repeated, his right hand clenching into a tight fist while it rested on the armrest. Saiyoku looked back and forth at them, feeling tension between the two but not knowing what to do. DiZ continued, "Now, for the finishing touches. First, we must dispose of Naminè. She did a splendid job with Sora, but it's high time she disappeared. Roxas isn't the only one who was never meant to exist," He leaned forward a bit, "Take care of it, Ansem."

Riku nodded, and Saiyoku—feeling she wasn't needed at the time—left to the Computer Room, curious about how Sora's restoration was going. The loading bar was already finishing up and it startled her when she walked through the door, _"Restoration at ninety-seven percent."_

The images from Sora's memories flashed over the screen at a frightening pace, finishing up the last of his memories so far. As the memories neared where his memories of Castle Oblivion began, the screen began to fizz, the image becoming fuzzy and breaking. It all happened so fast, that suddenly Castle Oblivion faded out all together and the monitor turned off.

"Oh jeez, what happened?" She took a look at it, but decided against touching anything, lest she break something else. "Looks like… your time's up, Sora." She muttered, and looked at the door leading to the Pod Room.

--

"DiZ, what's going on!?" Saiyoku half-yelled at him, the computer screaming and flashing, DiZ obviously working hard on it.

"The defense system is down indefinitely. Axel has gotten inside and Nobodies are streaming in… they'll keep coming until they get what they seek! Ansem, Saiyoku! Get in there and help Roxas! We need to buy enough time to get Roxas to Sora and rejoin with him!"

The two friends nodded and slid into the machine, the computer sucking them in. When they arrived, they were inside the Mansion, actually, where they just were; only it was quiet. Saiyoku called out, "DiZ, where is Roxas and what do you want us to do?"

_I'll send him to the Mansion. For now, just focus on getting him safely there by taking out Nobodies. I'll give you further instructions later._

"Right!" They took off, but didn't get far when there were swarms of Nobodies inside the Library. "Great… this will take forever…" Saiyoku muttered, drawing her Keyblade, Riku doing the same.

--

More Nobodies surrounded Roxas while DiZ told the struggling Saiyoku and Riku that he was there. Roxas backed up to the padlocked gate, "Don't call me and then lock me out…"

Saiyoku and Riku battled there way through more Nobodies before giving up and stepping into a Dark portal, feeling it was going to be faster to get to Roxas that way. They peered through, seeing Roxas unlocking the padlock with his Keyblade and running through, the Nobodies lagging behind. This gave them the advantage, and the two friends appeared right in front of the entrance to the grounds, blocking the white creatures' path. The gate closed behind them, and Saiyoku and Riku took their stances back to back as two more Dusks appeared, flipping around and heading straight for them.

They took them out one by one, trying to keep them busy. When the Dusks stopped coming, Assassins and Creepers appeared, ready to fulfill their new roles. Riku glanced behind him at his partner, making sure she was holding up well. She usually ended up getting overconfident and losing in the end because of sheer lack of focus, but this time was different. She was purely focused and fighting with all she had to keep the enemies at bay.

Even though all seemed well, the nonexistent beings kept coming; there was no end to the sea of different shades of white, gray, and blue-gray. "Saiyoku, lock the gate. Maybe that will help keep them out for now. I'll take the rest of these." Riku stepped in front of her, shielding her while she used her Keyblade to bar the gate from intruders. They disappeared into a black portal that consumed them after she did so and appeared in the White Room that was Naminè's.

"DiZ, we're out of time. Too many Nobodies!" Riku told him urgently, but another Dark portal opened beside DiZ, Naminè stepping through.

"Roxas. Nobodies like us are only half a person. You won't disappear. You'll be whole!"

"I'll… disappear…?" Roxas repeated, but DiZ became infuriated, "No further outbursts!" He grabbed Naminè and tried to pull her back through the portal.

"No, you WON'T disappear! You'll—" DiZ covered her mouth with his hand to silence her. Roxas became concerned, "Wait!" He ran after her, trying to save her from the man muting her, but Riku and Saiyoku blocked his path. Naminè managed to pull DiZ's hand away, "Roxas! We will meet again. And then we can talk about everything. I may not know it's you, and you may not know it's me. But we will meet again. Someday soon. I promise!"

She was pulled back in, DiZ going along with her. Roxas yelled, "Let her go!" but there was nothing he could do as he watched them take her, Saiyoku and Riku disappearing as well.

"Naminè!"

"Saiyoku, Ansem. It's time for you to take your leave. There is nothing more that you can do here. Sora will wake up any time now, so it's high time you get going." DiZ told them while they were all passing through Betwixt and Between. They nodded, "Thank you DiZ, for all that you have done for us and for Sora." Saiyoku told him, and they opened their exit, stepping through and leaving DiZ and Naminè behind, not knowing whether they would see either of them again or if they would farther in the future.

"Well, we'll say goodbye and good luck to Sora for now, but then we'll head out, right?"

"Yeah. And then, we'll be on our way."

"Boy oh boy, what's going to happen this time?"

"We can only find out the answer to that question as we walk the road ahead of us."

"Feeling philosophical?"

"Shut up."

"You'll be hearing stuff like that from me for a long, long, long time." Saiyoku smiled as they entered the Pod Room.

"Bye… Sora."


	6. Saiyoku's Confusion

"Aw, I can't believe it! We gave up sleeping in a nice hotel to sleep on the ground AGAIN!? I hate this…" Saiyoku crossed her arms sulkily, sitting cross-legged on a wall in the Land of Dragons. Riku smirked, "Then what do you suggest we do? I don't think you can get a hotel here."

"You could at least find SOMEPLACE for us to sleep other than the hard earth."

"And where do you suppose that place would be?"

"I don't know."

Saiyoku was not in a good mood ever since they had left Twilight Town. She hadn't slept since the night before… terrible planning on Riku's part. By now, he should've realized how much sleep meant to her… she was so going to kill him.

She leaned back on the wall and put her hands behind her head, "Well, we're not sleeping here out in the open. You made us sleep here; you're finding a better place."

Riku sighed and pushed himself away from the wall, straightening up from leaning against it, "C'mon, we go and rest up in the Mountain Trail."

"What about the Village?"

"MOUNTAIN TRAIL."

"Grr…"

--

She stood on the sandy shore, a complete transformation compared to the snowy mountain… but, why was she on Destiny Islands and not in the Land of Dragons?

"Saiyoku…" A voice called behind her, a stranger's voice. She spun around to wherever it was coming from to see a tall girl with blue hair, kind of like Kairi's. She was standing next to two other people. A boy with spiky brown hair that was long in the front and sides, but almost like a dragon's spikes on its neck in the back, was standing next to the other boy. He looked exactly like Roxas…

"Roxas?" Saiyoku asked, confused with his change of clothes and a different expression, as well as a change of companions. All three of them laughed.

"No. My name's Ventus, but you can call me Ven for short." The Roxas look-a-like said. Saiyoku looked closely at him, "You're saying you're not Roxas? But you two could be the same person!" She looked at all three of them, making sure she wasn't confusing them with anyone either. She noticed that all three of them had the same Heartless like symbol somewhere on their clothing.

"No, I'm Ven. But… Roxas… well, we'll get to that."

"So who are you guys?"

"I'm Aqua." The girl said, and the brown haired boy cocked his head, "I'm Terra."

"Water, wind, and earth. Just like Riku, Sora, and Kairi."

They all three looked at each other before nodding, then Aqua spoke up, "Saiyoku, we need to talk about… about you. What you're really doing on the island."

Saiyoku cocked her head to the side, "Excuse me?"

"What she means is, we need to talk about what you are." Terra said, skipping the blunt details and getting straight to the point.

"Sorry, but, I don't get what you're doing. I'm a human person and Keyblade Bearer as well."

Ven's face seemed to sadden, "No, you don't get it…"

"That's the thing Saiyoku. You're not completely human." Terra did it again, growing impatient with his friends.

"What? What do you mean I'm not completely human? Of course I'm human, what else could I be?"

Aqua sighed, "Saiyoku, when you're body was taken over by the Darkness… did it dissipate?"

"No."

"Did you go to Kingdom Hearts immediately?"

"No."

"Were you still conscious?"

"Yes."

"Where are your parents?"

"Wha—I don't know, but why bring them into the subject?"

"How much of your past do you remember?"

"About around my fifth birthday. Before that, I can't remember a thing."

"How did you get a Keyblade?"

"Um… well, this is going to sound strange, but this weird disembodied voice gave it to me… sort of."

"Are you in Light or in Darkness?"

"Both. I'm in the Road to Dawn, same as Riku. Now, why are you asking me all these questions?"

Aqua stopped paying attention to her and was muttering something to Ven and Terra. Saiyoku was so confused. Why was she here, who were these people, why did Ven look like Roxas, and what the heck was going on?

Aqua turned her attention back to Saiyoku and sighed, "So he was right… Saiyoku, have you figured it out yet?"

"Um, NO! And who is this, 'he' you're talking about?"

"Saiyoku, like we said before, you're not completely human. Our hypothesis was just confirmed… Saiyoku, you're um, special. You look, think, and act exactly like a human. But, the reason you didn't fade when you lost your heart was because, you're a Heartless and a Nobody at the same time. In a way, that makes you whole."

"I'm… a Heartless!? AND a Nobody!? Are you crazy!?"

"You don't know where your parents are… that's because they never existed. You were still conscious because what you were inside Riku was your true form. The Heartless that took him over later then saw you for what you were and kicked you out knowing you would be a problem. You don't remember anything about before you were five because you never existed before then."

"Wait, how did you know I was inside Riku? I never told you that!"

"The thing is, you have a heart. That's what makes you human. You have all the properties of both a Heartless and a Nobody but you still have a heart. You have the special ability to see people for what they really are. You will never be deceived by appearances again. You were created this way for a purpose… which will be revealed to you after you defeat the Organization."

"Um… okay… am I dreaming?"

Ven laughed, "Te—"

Terra nudged him to shut him up and looked around, as if hearing something, "It's about time we left. Hurry it up Aqua."

"Right," Aqua nodded, and then she turned to Saiyoku, "Do you wish to see what you really look like?"

"Huh? Um, I see what I look like every day."

Aqua shook her head and stepped closer to Saiyoku pressing her forefinger and middle finger against Saiyoku's forehead. She held still for her, but was really confused. Nothing was happening. Then, Saiyoku was blinded by white-hot light as white tattoos erupted all over her, her eyes glowing white with the patterns on her skin. Her skin darkened to a black as dark as Darkness itself, a deep contrast with the tattoos.

The patterns began to burn themselves into her skin, and she could feel herself rearranging on both the inside and out, and she screamed in pain, "Stop! No!" She tried to move, but something was holding her still. Who were these strange people that were doing this to her?

"Stop!" Saiyoku flew upright, drenched with sweat even though it was freezing out on the Mountain Trail. Her body was on fire, the patterns still felt as though they were burning into her skin. A wave of nausea came over her and she fell backward, feeling strong arms catch her. _It was only… a dream? But it felt so real…_

"Are you okay?" Riku asked, still holding her so she wouldn't fall over. Saiyoku couldn't answer—though it seemed strange enough that in her state she heard his familiar voice and not Ansem's. Her heart was pounding in her head and she was gasping for breath. When she didn't respond, he pulled her closer, holding her against him to help calm her down. She was still in so much pain, even down to the marrow. She couldn't help herself—tears rolled down her pale cheeks and she buried her face into his chest, wrapping her arms around him tightly.

"Relax… whatever it was, it's gone now." He ran his hand soothingly through her short chocolate hair. She breathed a sigh of relief into his chest and looked up at him, her eyes still wet with tears. Through them, she no longer saw Riku as Ansem, but as his normal self, without the blindfold. _"You have the special ability to see people for what they really are. You will never be deceived by appearances again."_

She remembered what Aqua had said, and she understood. Even though Riku still looked like Ansem to everyone else, he looked like himself to her. He glanced down at her, his expression suggesting confusion, but his face was still the softened protective look. "What is it?"

She hugged him around the neck, "I missed what you looked and sounded like."

He wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her shoulder. "Missed?" He asked softly, his right hand playing with her hair.

"Yes… I don't know why, but… I can see you as yourself and not Ansem. To me, you're not even wearing your blindfold," She smiled softly and whispered, "I missed your clear ocean blue eyes most of all."

He smiled and whispered against her ear, "You can really see me?"

"Mmhmm."

They stayed in each others arms a little while longer before he pulled her away slowly, looking her straight in the eye and caressing her cheek, wiping away the few tears still left on her face. A sharp wind blew through the cold air, surprising Saiyoku. She yelped and sank herself into his chest again, welcoming the warmth. Riku laughed softly, "C'mon, we need more sleep. You haven't slept much lately either way." He laid back and kept her against his chest, wrapping one arm around her and the other behind his head.

She fell into sleep quickly, snoozing softly in his arms. Riku smiled and kept looking up at the cold sky before touching his lips softly on her head and whispering,

"I love you."


	7. Chinese Moogles?

Saiyoku awoke, still lying against Riku's chest. He was sound asleep, but she tried to make sure she didn't wake him when she slid out from underneath his arm and sat up, yawning. She rubbed her eyes and pulled on her gloves, now freezing from the closeness of the mountain top.

She sighed and sat with one knee up underneath her arm, "Was that really all a dream? Or… was what they were saying true?" She looked around, the cold wind blowing strongly against her face. She pulled her hood up and over her head to block some of it, but it did nothing. Her hood merely flew off, so she pulled it back over and put her hands on her head to hold it. "Grr… I hate you for this Riku. Make me come out here in the freezing cold on a mountain in China… hate you hate you hate you…"

She stood up when the wind died to a gentle breeze. She sighed again and looked around at the barren rocks and whispered, "Okay Sora… ready to take on the Heartless and Nobodies? 'Cause I think we're going to need you soon." She hopped down off the rock that they had slept on and fell far down onto the path beneath them. There was no way anyone could have seen them from down here, but she wanted to make sure. She looked up. No, no one could have seen them.

She hopped up against some rocks and landed back on the tall cliff where Riku was still sleeping. "Jeez… and I thought I needed sleep…" She jumped back down again, her hopes crushed that he would be awake. Riku wouldn't kill her if she did some recon… so…

Saiyoku ran up the side of the mountain until she reached the village. She pulled her hood up and hoped it would stay put while she maneuvered through the busy people. A cave was nearby, as well as the entrance to the Ridge and the Summit. She decided to explore the cave first, and in doing so found out that it was merely a temple for the Village. Since she had no interest in the rest of the cave, she left and headed up towards the Ridge, where several mounds of dynamite and fireworks were spread across the snow.

"What could they be doing with all of that?" She asked herself, deciding against lighting one in case of an avalanche. She headed up the Summit to see what was there, but was pushed back down when the wind became too fierce. Not a single Heartless was in sight, which surprised her. Usually by now they would be in swarms with this many hearts to prey on. The entire Imperial City lay in the valley beneath her, filled with people, plus the nearby village and the campsite of soldiers on their way.

Suddenly, there was a moist, warm breath on her neck, nearly sending Saiyoku over the cliff. She twisted around and switched places with Riku, her eyes threatening to push him off, "Don't. You. Dare. Do. That. Again." She said through gritted teeth. Her friend merely laughed and pushed her farther up the Ridge until they were safely away from the cliff, "I would have caught you if you had fallen."

"What if you weren't able to?"

"I would've gone after you. Though you'd probably survive the fall. You had no trouble jumping off that roof in Twilight Town just to get some ice cream."

"Shut up. My ice cream was at stake."

"All that for ice cream?" Riku yawned, handing her one.

"Oh my— where did you get this?" She practically screamed, so ecstatic for her favorite treat. She grabbed it from him and stuffed it in her mouth despite the chill from the snow.

"The Moogles have everything, I swear. I was surprised to find that they had this in stock though."

"You're not eating one?"

"Are you nuts? I'm not eating ice cream when it's below freezing." Riku stepped away from the cliff, still nervous about Saiyoku actually pushing him off.

"Suit yourself… Hey, when do you think Sora will actually head off?"

"I should think that he would already be off and ready to go by now. Who knows? Maybe he's already at Hollow Bastion, since the worlds aren't going to let him in that easily."

"Hmm… maybe. But, I think he'd go for a different reason."

"Really? Why?"

Saiyoku stuck her popsicle stick in the snow and looked out over the cliff and the valley below. "He has friends there. Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith. I met them when I went to Traverse Town for the first time with Sora and Kairi. I would think he'd want to see them… if just this once."

Riku sighed and looked at her, his face pained, "I suppose you're right."

"What? Are you STILL jealous of him having other friends? Jeez, it's about time you got over that. He has friends in almost every world now. Mickey, Hayner, Pence, Olette, and Naminè are our friends. So chill, he's not the only one who's made other friends."

"…"

"C'mon, let's head down to the city and see what we can find… or, we can go over to Beast's Castle and see what's going on there." She pried, trying to get him to do something.

"I don't like going to the castle."

"Why not? Oh… I know," Her mouth formed a round 'o' when she figured it out, "Because of what happened in Hollow Bastion, right? With the Beast?"

"How do you know about that? You weren't in my head at the time."

"Sora's memories. Caught my eye, hadn't seen what had happened in Hollow Bastion while I was unconscious, so I took a look at it. Man, why was it I was pulled out of your head the time right before you really needed a good shock to the brain?"

"I will never understand how you did that…"

"Neither will I," She laughed, opening up a portal, "Let's go down to the Imperial City, then, if you don't want to go to the castle."

"Fine."


	8. The Nightmare is Only the Beginning

It was completely dark, nothing surrounding her. She couldn't even see herself. _Oh great… please tell me I'm not back in Riku's head._ Saiyoku looked around as much as she could, but it was as if she was blind. She couldn't feel the rest of her body either, as if it was entirely numb. _If my nose starts to itch again… I swear…_

"Hello?" She called out, hoping someone would answer. She got her wish, "Help! Please!"

"Huh? Who's there?" She tried to find her way, following the voice, but then more spoke up.

"Please! Let me out!"

"I don't want to be alone!"

"Agh… No more, no more! Let me go home!"

The voices surrounding her, mingling and soon it was impossible for her to make out they were saying. Cries of anguish and bloodcurdling screams pierced the stale air that began to creep up inside her.

"What's going on!? Please, someone tell me! Why are all of you in so much pain!?" She cried out, wishing she could escape. Three voices interrupted the noise, silencing them all.

"Saiyoku." They all said in unison. She immediately recognized them all.

"Aqua? Terra? Ven? Is that you? Please, tell me what's going on!"

"These are the voices of all those you have trapped within yourself." Terra said, sounding uneasy again. He always seemed to have trouble talking to her in particular.

"Inside me? But…"

"Remember? You're both a Heartless and a Nobody, Saiyoku." Aqua replied, the sound of her voice somehow reassuring, but it didn't mask what she had said.

"No… I don't believe you! I'm a human being! You're just part of my imagination, something that I made up! You aren't real, you never existed!" She longed to plug her ears and have them disappear.

"Aw, that's not very nice. You shouldn't just jump to that conclusion because you don't like what we're saying. The more we tell you, the easier your life will be." A joking Ven said, trying to get her to listen.

"My life would've been easier without you three interrupting my dreams, confusing the heck out of me, and having me figure out what the tiny little clues you drop mean!"

"You need to know. It will help in the end."

"Then tell me towards the 'end'!"

"But what if that 'end' was tomorrow?" Terra said, scaring Saiyoku, "W-what? You… you can't be serious… T-tomorrow?"

"He's not. He's just proving a point." Aqua told her, trying to calm her, only ending up fueling Saiyoku's temper.

"Then don't scare me like that! Now, what is it that you want? Spit it out already and stop holding back!"

"We would like to, but we can't just tell it to you all at once. You… you wouldn't be able to handle it all, not in one day."

"If you won't tell me now, then I won't listen to you at all if you ever attempt to again!"

"You have no choice!" Terra growled, and Saiyoku was glad she couldn't see him. He was sure to be scary looking like this.

"Watch me!" She couldn't help but say it, just to get them to leave her alone.

Ven sighed, "That's your choice I suppose…"

"Ven, she has to hear everything, but over time!" Terra yelled at him.

"I know that! But what's the use in telling her something when she won't listen? Saiyoku, we understand your confusion. We know you don't really know yourself whether you want to hear the truth now or later, but you have to believe us when we tell you these things. Things will unravel in time and then you'll understand more. Just promise us that when we think the time is right to tell you, that you'll listen."

"I… But I… er…"

"Saiyoku?"

She thought long and hard, unsure whether to trust that these people were telling her the truth. But, they knew things about her that she didn't even know herself… "Fine…" She muttered, reluctant, but deciding that she could deal.

"Thank you for your cooperation." Ven said half laughing, and Saiyoku's blindness was lifted. She could see herself again, but she was alone… that is, until she saw another figure ahead of her. She chased after the person, hoping to wake up when she did. As she neared, more details could be made out.

It was a girl, chocolate brown hair like her, but much spikier, standing out on end in whatever direction it grew. Her skin was charcoal black and blended in with the darkness around her. The only way she was able to make her out from her surroundings was from the white patterns that covered the girl from head to foot. They closely resembled those that had appeared on Saiyoku in her first dream. She looked as though she was clothed with the darkness itself.

The girl was still turned away from Saiyoku, so she tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around and stared at Saiyoku, her eyes glowing with white light that seemed to look straight into Saiyoku's soul. A huge hearts shaped crest full of swirled patterns was etched into her face, connecting the white light her eyes produced. Inside the two humps of the heart on one side was the Heartless symbol while in the other was the Nobody Symbol. Down in the lower part of the heart was another symbol Saiyoku had never seen before. But when she saw it, a word formed in her head, _Unversed_. _But… what is that?_

The startling sight of what the girl really was brought another thought into her head, _Is that… is that supposed to be me? No, impossible. I've never looked like that. I've never seen anyone like that either._

The creature reached out and grabbed Saiyoku's shoulder. It began to melt into her, immediately sending Saiyoku backward, trying to get away from the strange being.

"No, you're not me! I'M ME! You're nothing but something from my imagination!"

The creature tried to touch her again, but Saiyoku backed away, "No! Don't touch me!"

"Gah!" Saiyoku yelled, panting from her restless night again. Riku was already up and looking at her, a worried expression on his face. "You alright? That's two weeks already."

"Yeah… yeah, I'm fine…" She gripped her head and shook it in her hand. She mustered a fake smile, "See?"

"I don't believe you."

"You never do…" She muttered, lying back down and putting her hands behind her head. The starry sky looked so cool in Olympus Coliseum. They were high above the actual arena, nestled up in the rafters around it, where no one could see them. The entrance to the Underworld wasn't even visible.

"So, are you gonna tell me what it was about. Might make you feel better."

"Since when are you optimistic?"

"Um…" He scratched his head searchingly, trying to come up with something to say.

"Good answer." She laughed shakily and sighed, "I don't really know… I… never see anyone… but I can hear them. Screams of suffering and pleads to be freed. I don't get it… what could be holding people hostage that is so terrifying?" She lied, "I just don't know… And then… there were those three again… I didn't see them, but they were talking to me." She decided to leave out the part about the strange girl creature.

"Those three?"

"Yeah. These three people called Aqua, Ventus, and Terra."

"Did you say Aqua?"

"No, I said turtle. Yes, I said Aqua. Blue hair… um, light blue eyes, armor on her right arm… oh, and a blue skirt like thing…" She sat up again, facing Riku again by leaning on her right arm.

Riku stayed silent for a while. He had met her once before… on the island. That had been years ago, and only once. He'd never seen her again after that.

"You saw her in a dream?"

"The one that started it all… yeah. You know her?"

"I met her once on the island. Never saw her again. That was before I really got to know you."

"Really? She's just in my dreams, along with the other two guys. You know what's weird? Roxas and Ventus look EXACTLY the same. It's scary how much they look alike."

"Hm… Well, at least your dreams aren't as bad as they were. I don't have to comfort you as much."

"Are you suggesting you didn't enjoy that?"

"…"

"Ahuh…" She smiled, "C'mon, we need more sleep. Indefinitely." She lay back down and closed her eyes, resting her hands behind her head. Riku did the same, wondering why Aqua and the other two were in her dreams… and where the people that were screaming in her dream were as well. The answers never came, so he dozed off, welcoming his sleep.

--

Riku peered over the edge of the roof of the entrance to the Coliseum. Three figures exited the entrance to the Underworld, leaving the smoky darkness that lay within. Sora, Donald, and Goofy stepped through, looking at the familiar sight around them.

"Hmph, well what do you know." Riku muttered, and Saiyoku looked up from her boredom, "What?"

He motioned for her to come take a look, and she immediately came running along the rafters, curious. She leaned against the edge and gasped, laughing, "Look at him… you'd think nothing happened to him! Check out how much he's grown! There was no way I could tell how much while he was asleep in that pod."

They both watched as their friend looked at the scoreboards on either side of the entrance to the Underworld. His laughter could be heard from where the two shadows were watching as he turned to Donald and Goofy, "Looks like no one could beat us! Still the champs all the way!"

"Jeez, someone's full of themselves." Saiyoku muttered as the group headed for the entrance of the Coliseum. The quaking of the building showed that the heavy marble doors to the entrance hall were being opened, but Sora, Donald, and Goofy hadn't gotten there yet. A deep male voice sighed heavily before perking up.

"Sora! Donald, Goofy! When'd you get here?"

"Hey, Herc!" Sora waved at the unseen man, and Donald and Goofy followed suit, "Hi!"

"Howdy there!"

The man approached them and revealed to be the hero Hercules that Riku and Saiyoku had seen a few times, but never up close. "You on another adventure?" Hercules asked, and Sora scratched the side of his head, smiling.

"Yeah, trackin' down some friends, wipin' out some Heartless."

"Junior heroes, always busy!" Herc and Sora grabbed hands in a sign of friendship.

"You know it!"

Saiyoku had trouble not laughing, and in between stifled giggles she managed to say, "Junior… Heroes? Ha ha ha ha!"

Riku hit her on the back of her head, "Shut up! He'll hear you."

"I'm sorry." She took a deep breath and quieted down, "Okay, I'm sorry, but it was just so funny on how he's considered a junior hero here while he basically saved all the worlds from total annihilation."

Riku was silent on the mention of the worlds and turned away from the sight of his best friend. Jumping down from one of the rafters but staying hidden, Riku sat above the main arena, his mind racing on what he wanted to do.


	9. Trick or Treat? Arabian Halloween!

Saiyoku tugged on Riku's sleeve, whining, "C'mon, Riku. I want to show you all the worlds where we change! Like Halloween Town and Pride Lands! It's so cool, and I wanna see what you look like. Please!"

"No."

"But why not?"

"Because, we can't just waltz into other worlds like it's no big deal. This isn't a vacation."

"No one is gonna realize we're from another world. We change to look like them. Sora does it all the time, can't we please go?"

"I said no."

"Fine. Then I'll go by myself." She spun around and stalked out of the Arabian room. The heat was killing her… it was much worse than Destiny Islands in the summer, and not only that, but they were wearing their clothes plus the black pants, elbow length gloves, boots, and Organization cloak on top of it.

Riku chased after her and grabbed her by the forearm. He shook his head, but she wrenched her arm out of his grip and sighed, "You're not my dad, so don't tell me what I can and can't do." Her voice was cold, a contrast to the blazing heat that beat against their bodies. Riku sighed, "I guess there's no stopping you…"

"Glad you see it my way." She smiled and immediately opened a Dark Portal, "We're off to Halloween Town!"

"Great…" He moaned as she dragged him along into Betwixt and Between. As soon as it closed behind them, she pulled off her Organization cloak, pants, boots, and gloves. She set them down and motioned for Riku to take his off, "Why?"

"Because you won't change unless you take them off. I've already been to Halloween Town before, and I only changed in my head because the rest of me was covered in this stuff. So, take it off."

He groaned, but obliged, Saiyoku opening another portal in the mean time. She pulled him through and looked around, making sure there wasn't anybody there… most especially Sora. But then she remembered that he was in Port Royal, so there was no big deal.

When she stepped all the way through, she could feel her fangs grow again, her hair become feathers, and her fingers become clawed. Her eyes changed to the vibrant orange and cat-like slits and the area around her eyes become shadowed. Her clothes just changed to black and silver, nothing much, but the collar around her jacket fanned out like bat wings and her belt buckles now consisted of numerous Halloween-ish items, such as a jack-o'-lantern and a bat.

Behind her grew large black raven wings that matched her hair, and her shoes changed from black boots to feathers and clawed feet. She smiled devilishly at Riku with an 'I-told-you-so' look in her eyes, "See? Isn't cool? I've only seen what happens to my face, but I like what I'm seeing. I wonder…" She stretched her wings to the total wingspan and a strange expression twisted on her face, "Man, that for some reason feels SO good. Like I haven't opened them in so long… weird. See? I told you it was cool. Now get out here." Saiyoku folded her wings against her back again and pulled Riku out of the Dark Portal.

His hair immediately darkened, from the flashy silver hair to a dull dark gray. His pupils didn't change to slits, but his eyes went blood red, more like month old blood, but still very beautiful. A long crescent scar circled from right above his left eye to down and around, ending about mid-cheek. His teeth grew pointed, just slightly longer than Saiyoku's own fangs.

His clothes faded, morphing to the natural Halloween Town colors, and grew torn, tears here and there while other patches held them together. His shoes changed to pointed black cloth boots that wrapped around his feet and up to his knees. His hands were clawed and his collars changed to skin-like bat wings like Saiyoku's collar. Connected to his shoulder blades were long leathery wings that resembled that on his Way to the Dawn Keyblade. The black, red, and deep purple extensions had an even longer wing span than Saiyoku, and her eyes pointedly showed that she was slightly jealous.

Riku took a look at himself before sighing, "Have I amused you long enough?"

"Don't tell me that you don't think it's cool! You have wings like I do …I wonder if we can fly with these things… They're big enough…" She stretched her raven wings out in full, but Riku glared at her, signaling for her to close them and tuck them against her back. He did so as he glared.

"You ruin my fun all the time… you're so strict now. What happened?"

"Ansem happened. I don't look like myself to me. You see me for what I really am, but I still see myself as Ansem. Whatever you think I look like, it isn't what I see myself as now. I'm still him. I didn't change."

"Aww, but you should see yourself! You've got these cool wings like me, well, except yours are more like they're made of skin, and then you have fangs and this really cool scar and all sorts of stuff!"

"Wish I could see… but c'mon, we need to go before someone sees us."

"Fine, since you didn't change, you stand out more. Let's go…" She pulled him back into the still gaping portal and shook her head as one of the feathers dropped to the floor. She pulled on her Nobody cloak and the rest of her items while Riku did the same. "Well, I guess this trip is over…"

"Trip? What trip? I told you that we weren't on vacation, so we need to focus more."

"…on what? Sora's doing fine; I don't see what you're so worried about. I don't even get why we have to watch him all the time… It's really boring and unnecessary. Sure, we can help him out every once in a while, but that doesn't mean that we have to follow him around!" She crossed her arms, scowling.

Riku sighed, "I know that you don't like it, but keeping the Organization away from him is what we're trying to do. They never know we're there thanks to these things," he tugged on his coat, "but why I think we need to watch him all the time is not because I think he can't handle it on his own, but because the Organization is going to go after Roxas. If we keep the Organization away, the less chance of them awakening Roxas and then we'll have a huge problem with Sora."

"But Roxas left the Organization. He's not gonna want to go back, is he? I'm sure he's happy that he met his original self and is still alive and not fading into Darkness. Why would he go back?"

"You never know. Sometimes… people change their mind about things that they think they already decided a long time ago…" He slid past her, but she grabbed his shoulder roughly and glanced behind her, "You're referring to yourself, aren't you? Just because you don't like Roxas… which by the way I am very surprised… but, just because you don't like him doesn't mean that you can say what you want about him. He's Sora's Nobody. He changed his mind. Does Sora change his mind about that kind of stuff?"

"No, bu—"

Saiyoku covered his mouth with her hand as she sighed, "Riku, do yourself a favor, and SHUT UP."

--

"Explain to me again why we are in this Godforsaken desert?" Saiyoku asked no one in particular, dying of heat underneath the cloak, "Can we go back to that Halloween Town/Christmas Town? Please? It was snowing there, somewhere I'd rather be in after this heat."

She was relaxing on the edge of one of the commoner's roofs, hands behind head and her coat sprawled open to cool her off. She muttered to herself since Riku was busy finding out Sora's coordinates. He kept going on about how they needed to watch Sora to keep the Organization away, but if he hadn't noticed by now… not a single one has shown their face while they were watching. On the other hand, Sora had probably already encountered some of them, so what was the point? He could take care of himself. He did so before, and he can do it again.

"Agrabah! We made it!" Donald's voice pierced the hot air, and Saiyoku immediately sat up from the roof. _Great… another excuse for us to stay here… oh good-y. _She zipped up her coat and backed up a bit, just in case they decided to look up.

"Gawrsh, I wonder how Aladdin 'n' Jasmine are doin'?" Goofy said as he walked through a tunnel with Sora.

"Hey, maybe Riku and Saiyoku're with them!" Sora offered enthusiastically, and Saiyoku had trouble stifling her laughs, "Sora, you have no idea…"

"Yeah, and the King!" Goofy agreed, hoping to see Mickey around sometime. Suddenly, a big red parrot passed by Saiyoku's head, making her freeze so the bird wouldn't notice her. It dropped down a bit so it could see the three travelers down below.

"Keep dreaming, you two," Donald shook a finger at them, but Sora smiled, "C'mon, Donald. You were thinking the same thing."

"No, I wasn't!"

The parrot followed behind them at a safe distance, but unluckily for the bird, Goofy turned around to see it.

"Uh oh, it's uh… um… It's Iago!" Goofy shouted, his companions stopping dead in their tracks. Sora spun around, Keyblade already in hand, while Donald pulled out his staff. The bird flapped right in front of them shouting, "Wait! You got me all wrong!"

Donald responded, but Saiyoku missed it when she pieced together the scene, "Did that bird just… talk? Hm, well, I suppose it really shouldn't surprise me."

She turned around to find Riku standing behind her, scaring her just as badly as though he had spoken to her, "My gosh Riku, would you cut that out! Jeez, I hate it when you do that and you know it!"

"I know. I just like your reaction every time. It's hilarious."

She kicked him in the shin for that one, but turned her attention to the travelers and the bird. Riku bent over, holding his shin and grimacing in pain. _Note to self… don't say stupid things like that. Why the heck do I say those things?_ _It only causes me pain…_

"So, how did you convince him to come here?"

"Huh? Oh, easy. Just give off the 'Riku and Saiyoku're here' vibe." He said jokingly, thankful that it at least lightened her mood. She hated this place, and she had every right. _I mean, this place is a freaking desert. Still, I suppose I should let her pick where to go next, since I've made her do everything so far. Hmm… yeah, I guess I'll let her make a few extra choices._ Sora's voice interrupted his thoughts, "So. Free as a bird, huh?" _Irony is not what I'm looking for…_ Riku thought, and decided to listen with Saiyoku.

"Have fun!" Donald shouted at Iago, but Goofy added, "Gawrsh, fellas. He looks pretty sad."

The parrot perked up and flew over, landing in Goofy's hands, "I wanna apologize to Aladdin and Jasmine. Could you guys maybe put in a good word for me?"

"Sure, we can do that, can't we?" He looked at Sora and Donald for reassurance. They both had untrusting skeptical expressions, which didn't help Iago feel very good about his chances. None of the three companions noticed the Arabian Heartless brandishing swords to the side until Iago flew up yelling, "Watch out!"

"Oh boy." Riku said, but Saiyoku grinned, "He's fine. He can handle some Heartless."

Sora and pals drew their weapons, surrounded by the Heartless. As the spiky head took out the Heartless, more just kept popping up, big and small alike. Pretty soon, they were back where they started.

"Argh, where are they all coming from?" Sora groaned, the Heartless closing in.

Riku turned to Saiyoku in mock imitation, "'He's fine. He can handle some Heartless.'"

"Oh shut the heck up."

A huge commotion drew their attention back to Sora and the group, where Iago was panicking and running into stuff all over the place, the Heartless being either distracted or blocked by whatever he did. Sora took the chance and pointed to the alleyway to their side, "This way!" They took off, Iago screaming and flying every which direction while following them.

Saiyoku scratched her head, "I still can't wrap my mind around the talking bird."

"We live in a universe where Nobodies, Heartless, Darkness, and different worlds exist, and where Sora's other friends are a talking dog and a duck, the king is a mouse, and you can change forms in specific worlds. Yet you CAN'T wrap your mind around the fact that there is a talking parrot?" Riku asked her, skeptical. She shrugged, "I don't get it either, but it's really freaking me out. Birds shouldn't talk."

"I question the inner workings of your mind… There's something wrong with you…" Riku muttered, but he received a nice whack to the back of his head as Saiyoku passed him to follow the travelers. He instantly regretted adding the last sentence, shaking his head at himself. _And the idiocy continues… Note to self, 'note to self's don't work._


	10. Why Ventus and Terra?

Kairi stood on the shore facing the island, her shoulder length red hair blowing in the wind. She sighed, "Maybe… waiting isn't good enough."

"My thoughts exactly! If you have a dream, don't wait. Act. One of life's little rules. Got it memorized?" Axel appeared before her through the Dark Portal he controlled, confusing her.

"Who are you?" She asked, wary of this fiery haired stranger.

"Axel," He said simply, "I happen to be an acquaintance of Sora's. Why don't we go see him?" He offered his hand to her, and she asked quietly, "…Sora?"

While she thought hard about the decision to see the one she loved, several barks called behind her, Pluto running up to her. Riku laughed from a distance, watching the scene in front of him as the dog chased its tail. He was glad he had thought of using the dog to pull Kairi away from Axel.

"He is such a spastic little dog…" He muttered, amused.

Just as the dog was wagging its tail, several Dusks surrounded them, and Riku panicked. How was his plan going to work now? _Kairi! _He thought, not sure of what to do. Then, he backed into his portal again and opened another one behind them, whistling for the dog. They both heard it, and Pluto barked for Kairi to go through.

"We've got something in common, Kairi. You and I both miss someone we care about. Hey… I feel like we're friends already." Pluto immediately jumped through, unaware that he had left Kairi behind.

Riku grabbed the dog and knelt beside him, "No, go get Kairi. Darn it, that's why you were sent there! Go back and get her for me! Keep her away from Axel."

Pluto just barked and wagged his tail, chasing it after Riku let him go. He shooed him towards the portal, "No! Go get her!"

But then Kairi yelled, "You're not acting very friendly!" And ran through the portal, barely giving Riku time to hide himself. She looked around while Riku closed the portal, making sure she didn't see him.

"Hey, what is this place?"

A sudden whistle from another opening now filled with light, attracted Kairi and Pluto's attention. _I didn't do that… so, who did? Saiyoku?_ Riku thought, still standing behind them. He came out more in the open as they neared it, Pluto jumping right through. But before Kairi went all the way through, she paused and looked around. She saw him, but the portal closed before she had time to ask who he was.

"Hmph." Saiyoku said, standing next to Riku, motioning with her hand to close the portal. Riku was surprised to see her there. He hadn't told her where he had gone. In fact, he had just up and left.

"When did you get here?"

"So, this is where you went? To take Kairi away from Destiny Islands?"

"No, not me. Axel attempted to kidnap her and take her to wherever it was he was headed. You know as well as I do he wouldn't take her to the Organization… not after what happened between him and Saïx."

"I see…" She stepped through the portal she had opened behind her silently, arriving in Twilight Town. He followed her, sighing. _Great… Kairi's here and she's in a bad mood. Not a good combination…_

"Where did you send her? …Not to the Organization yourself, did you? I know you would do that." Riku said, wary of what she did with Kairi.

She shook her head, "No, she's in the Usual Spot. I figured that it'd be best if she went somewhere where there're people we can trust."

"Look at you, looking out for Kairi. I think the worlds will end soon…" He said jokingly, but she just turned and walked down the hill out of Station Heights into the Sandlot.

"Hrrhn…" Riku moaned, realizing her mood was fouler than he had thought.

Saiyoku stood in the middle of the giant square of the Sandlot. _What is it about Kairi that gets the guys to always seem to be entranced by her?_

"Hey, Saiyoku! C'mon, I'm sorry about this, but we honestly need to make sure she's alright, okay?" He stood by her side, but she glared at him, muttering, "I'll catch up…"

"Oh—okay…" He said, and trotted up the stairs by the Usual Spot. _How am I supposed to get him to stop thinking about Kairi?_ She pondered, wondering what she could do, but a most devious thought entered her head. _We both have the power of Darkness… since we're both able to use the Portals. That also means, we can summon Heartless… Maybe…?_

She placed her hand out and summoned as much Darkness as she could, trying to summon some sort of huge Heartless to attract his attention. But something went terribly wrong. Instead of summoning the surrounding Darkness, she was actually summoning the Darkness inside her own heart by accident. A huge Darkside Heartless erupted from her chest, and stepped out into the open.

Riku came running down the stairs, seeing the Heartless above the buildings. He saw her clutching her chest in pain, unable to move from the Heartless above her. It seemed to have her locked in place, stopping her from doing anything.

Her head was pounding, the blood rushing to her skull. Her heart felt as if it was ready to burst, and her Heart was trying to escape, the Heartless trying to pull it from her. She grabbed at the spot where her heart was, trying to keep it inside. What had she done?

"Saiyoku!" Riku charged at the Heartless, Keyblade drawn. He slashed either of its shoulders, a few times on its head, and pierced through its skull within minutes, sending it toppling over and dissipating into Darkness. He ran to her side, where she was still clutching her chest, gritting her teeth to hold back cries of pain.

"Saiyoku! What… happened?" He asked, flipping her over after she collapsed face first. He held her in his arms, while she struggled to stay conscious. She shook her head and moaned, "I'm… sorry, Riku."

"Sorry? For what? What… what did you do? Why was the Heartless…?" He looked at the spot where the horrible monster had fallen, confused. She looked away, not sure what to tell him. _I… really messed up… big time…_

"I… I summoned him… I didn't want you to think about Kairi… I was jealous again. I'm sorry… I…"

"YOU summoned the Heartless? Are you insane? What were you thinking!? You endangered the lives of all the people here, and especially yourself! These people don't know how to handle Heartless or Nobodies!" Anger welled up in his voice, harsh and unwelcome.

"I…" She didn't know what to say.

"Saiyoku, you let your jealousy control your actions! You went too far this time!" He told her setting her down on the ground again. She managed to sit up, her eyes asking forgiveness. His face was twisted with anger; she'd never seen him this angry with her before. He turned and started walking away, but stopped to look back at her, "…You can be devoured by Heartless for all I care…" He stalked off, pulling up his hood and heading up the stairs.

"Ri—Riku! Wait!" She called after him, but he ignored her, leaving her alone in the middle of the Sandlot. She tried to stand, but fell back down from the dizzy feeling in her head. Saiyoku crouched over, punching the dusty ground in frustration, "DANG IT!" She screamed at the top of her lungs and sat down on her knees. _What… have I… done? How could I be so stupid?_

"Hey, you!" A familiar voice called to her from behind, and she turned around slowly, afraid of whom it might be.

"What… do you want?" She growled, really not in the mood to talk to anyone from Twilight Town.

Seifer laughed, "Well well, look who we have here. That trespasser from before. You don't have your friend with you either, and it looks like you're in pain. So, what happened?" He sounded uninterested, so she stayed quiet.

"Well?"

"…"

"Hey, you'd oughta listen to Seifer, y'know!" Rai said, throwing a fist in the air, while Fuu simply said, "Obey."

"Hmph, what are you doing here anyway?" Seifer tried again, but Saiyoku glared at him, "Just go the heck away."

"Oh, someone's in a bad mood. Guess you're in a mood to fight, huh?" He drew his Struggle bat, but Saiyoku stared him down, teeth bared, "Just leave me alone!"

"I don't think so. You don't tell me what to do, trespasser."

Saiyoku groaned in annoyance, but the groan instantly became a moan when her head felt as if someone had shocked her. She gripped her head, memories that weren't hers swarming her head.

Terra talking to a bald man and a white goatee, Ventus watching Terra ride off into a portal, Terra in a strange world that for some reason Saiyoku recognized as Enchanted Dominion, Ventus in a world called Dwarf Woodlands… another world Saiyoku somehow recognized. More and more memories came, until it showed just one: Terra, Aqua, and Ventus all gathered in a huge hall, laughing together.

Saiyoku fell to her side, writhing in pain and moaning, unable to make the memories stop. Seifer watched on in uncertainty, not sure what to do. Rai and Fuu waited for their leader's instruction, but he simply turned and left, a bewildered expression plastered on his face.

The Sandlot began to darken in Saiyoku's vision, blurring and disappearing all together. The three friends stood before her, one by one vanishing, when another figure stood there, a boy with a mask. The mask melted, and the boy's face became visible. He had glowing yellow eyes and black hair in the same style as Sora's. He smiled creepily, and then faded away like the others. The last figure was of what Aqua had said was her. She smiled and twisted into darkness, disappearing.

What did all this mean? What was happening to Saiyoku? She needed to find out. But before she could even start there, she fainted. A bloodcurdling scream was the last thing that came out of her mouth before she slept.

--

The first thing she felt was the brush of something across her forehead. She struggled to open her eyes, but was greeted with a not so forgiving sunset. Riku was looking down at her, the anger gone from his face. Instead, worry replaced it.

"W-what… happened?" She asked, ashamed that he had to come rescue her… again in the same day too. She shifted in his arms, not exactly happy to be there.

He sighed, saying, "I can't leave you alone for one minute without you fainting…"

"What happened to the 'you've gone too far this time' stuff? Aren't you still mad at me? Why'd you come back?"

"It was to prove a point. You always let your emotions run wild. It's about time you got them under control, or things like that will happen."

"That wasn't very nice…"

"That's beside the point. What is going on with you Saiyoku? Those dreams and now this? What's happening to you? Are you ever going to tell me?"

Saiyoku looked away, still feeling slightly awkward. How was she supposed to tell him what Aqua and the others had told him?

"I… I honestly don't know myself. The dreams… they're always different. And the memories flashing through my head… they were all of Ventus and Terra. I don't get it…"

"Memories? Was there a guy named Vanitas in it?"

"Vanitas? Hm… he could be that guy in the mask who looked like a crazed black haired Sora… why?"

"You kept muttering his name when I got here."

"Oh," She sat up and shook her head, trying to clear away the dizziness. She stood up and shrugged, showing she was fine.

"You're avoiding the question," Riku said as he stood up, brushing the dirt off his coat, "What is it that they told you?"

"Well… They told me that… that I was a Nobody. And a Heartless."

Riku began to say something, but froze, his mind blank. _Nobody… and a Heartless? How is that even possible?_

"How…?"

"I don't know…" She sighed.

"So, that's it? That's all they've told you, and they haven't even explained?"

"I'm just as lost as you are…" Saiyoku said, "Hey, since we're here, how about we stay in that hotel again?"

Riku sighed, unsure, but decided to agree, "Fine."

"Yay!" She yelled, trotting off towards one of her favorite places in the entire world at this point.

_Her energy never depletes for more than an hour…_ Riku followed her, groaning about how much she'll complain afterward if they're in another world.

_Heartless and a Nobody… What do they mean by that? And, how could she be both? She exists, so how…?_

--

Ventus, Terra, and Aqua stood together amongst a vast field of Keyblades, rusty and dust worn. A man stood ahead of them with the same boy in the mask from Saiyoku's vision. Their names echoed in Saiyoku's head. _Master Xehanort… Vanitas…_ They all three pressed the armor on the side of their arms and were instantly covered in armor, helmets on all three of them.

They summoned their Keyblades, and Ventus began to run toward them, but Terra pushed him back, running straight at their enemies instead. Master Xehanort lifted his hands, and the earth lifted, catching Terra in the front and dragging him up with it. The land that the enemies were on, however, went higher, Vanitas jumping down and throwing a shower of sparks down on Terra.

He looked up and attempted to jump up the side of the cliff face. Master Xehanort made a hand gesture, commanding the millions of Keyblades to be sucked up into a vortex, attacking not only Terra, but Aqua and Ventus as well.

Meanwhile, Vanitas had turned his attention to both Aqua and Ventus, when the huge vortex of Keyblades came hurling down into the ravine they were in. Aqua ran to try and avoid it, but Vanitas was after her, jumping nimbly up onto one of the Keyblades in the vortex, using it to his advantage. He shot bursts of ice at his prey, but Ventus jumped over the vortex to avoid them, Aqua dodging them by her speed.

Vanitas fell off the Keyblades, but kept attacking them with ice. Ventus made an attempt to catch him from behind, but his enemy was too quick. Aqua quickly sent a shower of sparks onto the masked boy, sending him flying onto the Keyblades again, passing Terra, who was still trying to reach Master Xehanort. He fell off the rock and slid down the cliff, using his Keyblade as a pick to slow him down. The rock fell away and hit the rock across from it, Terra still attached.

The vortex turned to Aqua and pelted her from above, sending her crashing into the rock below, a crater forming around her from the impact. Terra fell off and was thrust into the Keyblade vortex again while Ventus made sure Aqua was okay. Her helmet was destroyed, but it didn't bother her. She lifted her Keyblade and shot a Reflega spell to Terra, which covered him, stopping the vortex from attacking him.

It didn't last long until more shot up from underneath him, exploding the spell and backfiring on Terra. He fell onto the cliff where Master Xehanort was, while Ventus tried to get up there as well. Terra lifted his heavy Keyblade and attacked the Master, who had his own Keyblade. He froze Terra's arm not long after and sent him backward, but Ventus had made it up in time. He jumped up for a lethal attack from behind, but it didn't fool Master Xehanort.

He disappeared, but was suddenly behind Ventus as he grabbed him by the helmet, cracking it in his tight grip. Terra could do nothing as the Keyblade vortex caught him again, sending him down into the ravine. Vanitas returned to his master's side watching as pieces of Ventus' helmet fell, revealing one of his eyes. They were so sad as he was frozen externally by Master Xehanort, who merely dropped him over the edge, as if he were trash. The frozen boy's Keyblade broke on the way down, as did the rest of his helmet.

Aqua managed to catch him before he completely shattered when he hit the ground. He looked up at her, pleading for some way out of his frozen prison. Their enemy suddenly shot a ball of energy into the sky, the clouds parting away to show Kingdom Hearts, completed and in full bloom. Terra watched, pulling his helmet off as if in defeat.

"No! Ventus!" Saiyoku yelled, sitting up in her bed. She flipped on the light and put her head in her hand, _What just happened there?_ _What was going on?_

She groaned, flipped the light back off and rolled over, hoping to finally get some sleep.


	11. A Promise and Trouble in Hollow Bastion

Saiyoku yawned, stretching her arms up wide before flipping on her bedside lamp. _What a night… Stupid dream kept waking me up… what time is it anyway?_ She looked at the clock. _12:17 P.M.… What!?_ She jumped up out of bed and pulled on her clothes, shaking her head hard as a form of 'brushing' her hair. She poked her head out of the room, looking around for any signs of Riku being up.

The kitchen was empty… literally, empty. They couldn't afford to stock up on food, and besides, they didn't stay here constantly.

"Riku?" She called, feeling bad since she overslept. The door to his bedroom was open as well. She peered inside, the room empty as well. She sighed, "Huh… guess he went out for a bit." She jumped onto the couch, sprawled out, yawning again.

"Good afternoon," Riku said as he stepped through the door, making Saiyoku roll her eyes. Just as she was getting comfortable too…

"Good afternoon to you too. And where did you happen to go on this fine Monday noon?" She said, jokingly making her voice sound elegant.

"I went to see what happened to Kairi," his voice and expression became grim, "She's gone. Axel took her. I have no idea what happened to her after that."

"What?" She said in mock horror. _Good riddance. You can keep her._

"Yeah. What he wants with her, I don't know."

"You don't sound as worried as I thought you'd be. What are you thinking?" Saiyoku sat up, still spread out on the couch. She cocked her head and raised an eyebrow, curious.

"Sora will find her. The Organization is after him, so if Kairi's with the Organization, he'll end up finding her again. It saves us the trouble."

"Good plan."

They were silent for a while, Riku leaning against the kitchen table casually. Saiyoku took a deep breath and leaned back again, relaxing greatly. The silence was broken not long after, "What was your dream about this time?"

"Huh? How'd you know about it?"

"You have huge bags under your eyes. Its quite obvious you barely got any sleep."

"Okay, so I had another dream. Big deal. It was about the three of them, battling against that Vanitas guy and another man named Master Xehanort. They were in a huge craggy desert area filled with Keyblades. They were all rusty too, like they'd been there forever. Ventus was frozen externally as well, so I don't know what happened after that. That's when I woke up. It repeated again the next time, and the next time. It was like I was supposed to get something out of it, but I can't figure it out."

"Maybe it has to do with that Xehanort guy you mentioned," he offered, automatically knowing who 'the three of them' were.

"I don't know…"

"I have a favor to ask of you…"

"What's that?"

--

"Looks like I've got a lot of explainin' to do," Mickey said, folding his arms. Donald and Goofy straightened up in a form of salute while Sora scratched his head.

"We're listening, Your Majesty!" Donald said, but Sora interrupted, "Okay… but first, I've got a question…"

Leon appeared in the doorway to Ansem's computer room, "Hey, isn't Tron waiting for you guys?"

The three companions looked at Mickey, back to Leon and then back to Mickey again, unsure of what to do.

"Don't worry, I'm not goin' anywhere. If those Heartless attack, I'll stand here and fight with everybody here." The King explained, reassuring Sora.

"Yeah… we will, too."

"Then let's talk more later."

"That's a promise!" Donald said, and his King nodded, "I'll see ya when you get back."

The three turned and followed Leon out of the room, leaving the King alone. He looked around the room and spotted Saiyoku leaning against the wall, as if she had been there the whole time.

"Saiyoku?" He asked, and she looked up, putting her finger to her lips.

"Shh, Mickey, we don't want to let Sora know I'm here. Anyway, it's been a while."

"What are ya doin' here?"

"Riku wants to ask you for a favor."

"Why didn't he come here himself?"

"'Cause Sora's here. He's doing all he possibly can to not let Sora find out what happened to him. Which is what brings me to what Riku wants to ask you to do. Can you not let Sora know that Riku and I are okay? Please, just avoid the subject if that's all you can do."

"Why do ya want Sora to be completely oblivious of you two?"

"Because, if Sora knows that we're okay, then he'll try to come after us more, now that his faith in us being here has been renewed. If he forgets about us, then he can focus on taking out the Organization. Also, Riku doesn't want him to find us. He's afraid of what Sora'll think, though I'm completely against the idea. Riku can be such a moron sometimes…"

The King stayed silent, his tail twitching back and forth underneath his Organization cloak.

"Please Your Majesty, you have no idea how important this is for Riku."

Mickey sighed, "Alright. I guess I owe ya guys one. Odds are I would've never made it out of the Realm of Darkness without you two."

"Promise?"

"I promise." He held out his hand, and Saiyoku crossed the room, grabbing his hand and shaking it. Leon walked in the room at the exact same time.

"Huh? The Organization?" Leon narrowed his eyes.

Saiyoku laughed, "Is Sora in that Computer world-thingy?"

"Why should I tell you anything?"

"Hm… because you know me? If you haven't noticed, Mickey's wearing the same cloak I am, but you didn't mistake him for an Organization member."

He looked harder. Saiyoku could just imagine the little light bulb flicker 'on' when he recognized her, "…Saiyoku?"

"Congrats on figuring that out. It's been a year, and we only knew each other for a short time before I just vanished. I give you props for that."

"How did you…?"

"Escape? Vanish? What? C'mon, finish your sentence," she said teasingly, and Leon shook his head, "Where did you go?"

"Realm of Darkness. Met up with the King. Speaking of which, now that you know that I'm alive… you have to make the same promise His Majesty did. You can't let Sora know that I'm perfectly fine. Got it?"

"But why?"

"'Cause I said so. Just promise so I can get back to where I need to be." Saiyoku tapped her foot impatiently.

"Alright, fine."

"Thanks. See ya!" A portal closed over Saiyoku instantly, disappearing from sight. She didn't feel like heading over to the Land of Dragons just yet, so she reappeared on one of the cliffs in the Great Maw. Thousands of Heartless were moving through the ravine, probably millions.

"What are we going to do about this, Riku?" She muttered to herself, "Are we gonna help out, or are we gonna play it safe and sit back and watch?"

--

_Dang it, where is she? She should be here by now…_ Riku paced back and forth in the snow unconsciously, going over the same tracks he had made over and over again. He ran a hand through his hair nervously. He didn't understand why this bothered him so much, but… she just wasn't here like they'd planned…

"Dang it!" He said, a Dark portal closing around him, reappearing behind her, "Saiyoku! Where the heck were you?"

"Um, right here?"

"You know what I mean. How come you didn't come back right away?"

"'Cause I didn't want to. Besides, the King promised. Sora won't find out. And right now, Sora's the least of our problems. Take a look at that." She pointed down to the ravine beneath them, where thousands of Heartless were trampling the ground, headed in all directions. Some even climbed up to the cliffs and were headed toward Saiyoku and Riku.

"What the…?"

"Yep. This… this is what the Organization is after. You notice? With this many Heartless, you'd think there'd be Nobodies too. But no, the Organization doesn't want them fighting. They want us, the Keyblade bearers, to take all of them out so they can collect the hearts. It was so obvious if you think about it. Why else would they send Roxas on missions to rid the worlds of Heartless?"

"You'd think it would be that easy to figure out… So, what are we gonna do?" He asked, wanting to know her opinion.

"You really had to ask? Fight, of course. Why should we run? Everyone else is fighting, even the King himself. Why run away when we have the chance and the ability to help everyone?"

Riku looked out at the sea of Heartless, "Alright. You have a point."

"Okay then. I'll head this way and take care of any Heartless over there." Saiyoku ran back towards the Bailey before Riku could say anything else. She drew Rising Dawn and took down at least twenty Heartless before they seemed scarcer up on the cliff. She knew more would be headed her way soon though.

Beneath her… was Sora, Donald, and Goofy headed the opposite direction. Saiyoku peered over the edge while she had the chance, but was startled when a Dark portal revealed the blonde guy from the Organization that had been talking to Axel. Demyx, or so she remembered.

As soon as he saw Sora and his friends, he stuttered, scared, but calmed himself quickly, "Hey, you guys are looking lively." His voice echoed inside the huge open space of whatever was left of the once beautiful Hollow Bastion.

"Scram!"

"Didn't we catch you messing around in the Underworld? How'd a wimp like you get into Organization XIII?"

Demyx gasped and stepped back a few steps hesitantly, holding up his hands like he was trying to protect himself.

"I bet you can't even fight." Sora said, and Donald added, "Yeah, but we can!"

The blonde regained his confidence and wagged his finger at them, frowning, "You shouldn't judge anyone by appearance."

The three companions pulled out their weapons and took their stances, sending a stunned Nobody backwards with fright. He turned around after a few steps and tapped his head, "Oh… I told them they were sending the wrong guy… Saïx just never listens. It's always, 'It's for the Organization' this and 'Do as your told' that. Can't a guy ever get some piece of mind and play his sitar?"

Saiyoku crouched down and continued watching, finding the Organization member's antics amusing. Sora just seemed confused, "Who is this kook?"

"Remember, the Organization's made up of Nobodies." Goofy reminded him, and Sora nodded, "Right—no hearts!"

Demyx glanced behind him at this at this statement, "Oh, we do too have hearts! Don't be mad…"

Donald pointed at him, criticizing him, "You can't trick us!"

Demyx faced forward again before flipping around, a decided look on his face while he pointed at them, his expression showing scorn, "Silence, traitor."

Now Sora became utterly confused. Traitor? He didn't even know who the Organization's leader was. Who the heck was Demyx talking to?

"Hmph, Sora, you still don't know about Roxas, huh?" Saiyoku muttered to herself, quickly flipping around and taking out a Heartless that had attempted to sneak up on her before turning back to watch. Demyx was holding up a huge bubble of water in his raised hand. It broke and formed into a huge sitar that was apparently his weapon. He flipped it around and took his stance, pointing out at Sora; he was grinning smugly from ear to ear as if it was a weapon to fear.

Saiyoku stifled her laughs as much as she could without letting them hear. The battle that ensued was hilarious to her. Not really any real fighting, just some water splashes over here, and some water bombs over there. The only thing she could really find harmful was the water nymphs that Demyx summoned.

Eventually, the battle ended, Saiyoku having taken care of a few Heartless as well. Demyx fell to his knees, his sitar bursting back into water and dissolving in his hand. He looked at where it had once been and freaked out, standing up and putting his hands on either side of his head, only to fall back down to his knees in defeat.

"NO WAY!" He yelled, his sonorous voice echoing around the castle ruins. His figure began to dissipate into Nothingness until there was nothing left of the blonde haired Nobody to even tell he was there in the first place.

"Anyone from the Organization who'd like to be next?" Sora threatened, but Donald scolded him, "Hey, Sora! Don't antagonize them!"

Goofy agreed, "Yeah, we gotta go help our friends out first."

Sora put a hand behind his head, lowering his Keyblade, "Oh. Sorry."

"Then let's go!" Donald exclaimed, and he and Goofy stepped forward to join Sora when the King's voice stopped them in their tracks.

"Aha! There you are!" Mickey stood at the base of the steps, angry. He joined the three recalcitrant companions and folded his arms, staring them down. They bowed their heads and waited for their punishment, but the King sighed and softened, "You sure have lotsa friends to help."

The three stood up straight while the King continued, "So, I guess we better all pull together and finish this battle for good!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Sora, Donald, and Goofy said in unison, hands at their sides in salute. Saiyoku heard a strange mechanical noise beside her as they said this, and she turned to see a Surveillance Robot Heartless floating beside her. She swung at it and missed, but it jerked from side to side and shot its twin laser attack, missing Saiyoku but hitting the edge of the cliff beside her. She took it out as it recoiled, but watched in horror as the huge crumbling rocks went flying towards the King.

Goofy managed to see it in time and yelled, "Look out!" as he pushed the King out of the way, getting hit square in the head with the heavy boulder and sliding against the ground headfirst into the other side of the cliff wall. He lay motionless while Sora and Donald sprinted to his side, calling out his name.

The King shook his head in disbelief while Donald shook Goofy's still body, "Hey! You're the King's captain! You gotta get up!"

Saiyoku backed away, her hand on her mouth, "No…" She glanced at her Keyblade and looked away, "Was that… my fault?" She shook her head hard, wanting to say she was sorry, but unable to do so, she ran off to find Riku.


	12. Saiyoku's Mistake in a New World

"I'm going to kill you Saiyoku…"

"It's not my fault!"

"Not your fault? It's all your fault! You got us into this mess! If you hadn't talked to that guy, then we wouldn't be tied up down here!"

The two glared at each other for the longest time.

"I'm sorry, okay?"

"That's two screw ups in two worlds!"

"Hey, but Goofy didn't die! He's okay!"

"You thought you killed him."

"But I didn't!"

"Yes, but now this?"

Riku and Saiyoku had left Hollow Bastion after giving Sora a clue about what to do next… Riku's idea. But unfortunately for him, he had let her pick where to go next…

_The sky was strange in the strange world, somewhere where they had never been to nor heard of. It was filled with stars, but not of other worlds. No, this sky was their own, whether an imitation or not. It was a large ship, and it roamed its own sky, where smaller planets awaited its arrival, powered by sails that Saiyoku had never seen before. It was the world called Treasure Planet._

_Saiyoku looked around at all the strange creatures on the RLS Legacy. They were so strange and alien-like. A slug with several snout-like things protruding from his back and making weird flatulent noises was pushing a cart while a spider/crab with piercing yellow eyes crawled over the shrouds and up onto the fore mast. Riku grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back behind the barrels, also watching the strange crew._

"_What are they?" She whispered, and he shook his head._

"_I don't know. Are they friendly?" He wondered, and Saiyoku looked around again, seeing the only other life form that looked human. He was leaning out of the ship on the shrouds, watching the other crew members do all the work._

"_Hey, that guy looks okay to talk to. He looks kinda like us. Let's go find out some information." She slid out from behind the barrels and walked straight up to him, Riku saying in protest, "No, wait Saiyoku! Don't just walk out like that! We don't know anything about this place! Dang it…"_

_She ignored him and tapped the guy's back. He turned around, surprised to see a girl on the ship other than the captain._

"'_Scuse me, I was wondering if you could answer a few questions for me."_

"_Who're you?" He asked, and Saiyoku held out her hand, "Saiyoku, nice to meet you…?"_

"_Jim. Jim Hawkins from Montressor. I haven't seen you around before. When'd you get here?" He took her hand and hopped down from the ropes._

"_Not too long ago. So, I have a question. Could you tell me who the captain is?"_

_Right before Jim was about to answer, the crab/spider grabbed him by the shoulder, "Well, talking to a little stowaway, are we, boy?"_

_One of the aliens grabbed Saiyoku from behind, but she shook them off. But more caught her arms before she could draw her Keyblade or get away. They held them behind her back and pushed her to the floor roughly._

"_Let me go!" She yelled at them, but the crab/spider lowered his claw to her neck, "I wouldn't be talkin' if I were you."_

"_Hey! Scroop! We've got another one over here!" A little tiny head on octopus-like legs called to the spider/crab, and a huge four armed alien pulled Riku out, several others holding him down as well. Both Saiyoku and Riku struggled against the strange creatures, but with Saiyoku down on the ground and Riku held by the huge four-arms, they couldn't get free._

_They pushed Riku and Saiyoku down to their knees next to each other as a feline-like woman came down the steps with a huge living rock form from the quarter deck. Riku glared at Saiyoku, and she gave a hesitant apologetic smile back, "Heh, heh…" She groaned when Riku wouldn't stop glaring at her, but the aliens forced their faces forward toward the woman._

"_Captain Amelia, Mr. Arrow, these two stowaways were found on the deck," Scroop said, and he clicked together his claws threateningly._

_The Captain stopped in front of them, her stern face looking over the newcomers. She turned to the rock formation, "Mr. Arrow, I would like you to interrogate these two and then put them in the hold."_

"_Yes Captain," He said, bowing and then nodding toward the captain's quarters. The aliens dragged them in there, where Mr. Arrow proceeded to interrogate them._

"_So, why are you two on RLS Legacy?"_

_Saiyoku began to answer, but Riku gave her a 'you-say-another-word-and-I-swear-I-will-kill-you' look._

"_We ended up here on accident. We were just trying to find out where we were and how we can leave."_

"_Lies…" Scroop hissed, but Mr. Arrow motioned for him to be silent._

"_Who are you?"_

"_Does it really matter?" Riku countered, but the four-arms pushed his head down in punishment._

"_Who are you?" Mr. Arrow asked again and Riku answered through gritted teeth, "My name is Ansem. The girl next to me is Saiyoku."_

_Saiyoku almost corrected him, but then she remembered that everyone else saw him as Ansem and not the Riku she knew, so she stayed quiet._

"_Which planet are you from?" He asked, but Riku couldn't answer this. _Planet?

_Saiyoku spoke up, "Montressor. We're from Montressor."_

"_Montressor? And how did you manage to get on our ship?"_

"_We must have boarded the wrong one." She told him. Mr. Arrow sighed and waved them off, "Take them to the hold and lock them up. We'll see if they'll tell us the truth after a few days of solitude."_

There had been a big commotion after that, something about a black hole. Saiyoku and Riku were flung all over the place in the hold, and they heard that Mr. Arrow was the only one lost to the bottomless pit. Now they were still chained up, one chain leading from their arms to the wall on both of them, a lock placed over their arms and their legs chained together. Saiyoku sighed, "Okay, I have an idea."

"I don't care."

"I'm serious! Now, just summon Way to the Dawn."

"Why?"

"Just do it!"

Riku did as he was told. It was hard for him to hold it, but he was able to have a hand on it.

"Point it at the lock on my arms."

"Um…"

"Just do it already!"

He obliged, and the Keyblade began to glow, shooting a beam into the keyhole. There was a small click, and Saiyoku's chains fell off her arms. She drew her own Keyblade and unlocked the ones on her legs. She unlocked Riku's as well.

"Next time, listen to me."

"Listening to you was how we got here in the first place."

"Well, at least I was able to get us out. Now what?"

Just before he was about to speak, several Dusks appeared, spinning out of nowhere.

"Great… here too?"

They both took their stances and took them out, but then, Heartless appeared. Several calls from the Main Deck implied that they were readying for battle, but they didn't know what for. Saiyoku took out the Heartless while Riku lead the way to the main deck. A huge whale-like creature with rows of sharp teeth, two smaller torpedo fish at its sides, yellow eyes, and another mouth on its stomach circled the ship, a huge Heartless crest on its forehead.

"Battle stations! Prepare the laser canons! Tie on your lifelines!" The Captain yelled amidst the chaos, and every crew member was doing something to try and attack the Heartless after they had secured the ropes to their waists. Laser canon balls flew every where, but the whale swallowed them whole using its mouth on its face. It flew above the ship and lowered, almost crushing the masts. Its mouth on its stomach opened and it began to try and suck those on the ship up into its belly.

Saiyoku and Riku struggled to stay on the ship while others where flying in the air, still tied on to the main mast thanks to their lifelines. The suction was too strong though, and Saiyoku was pulled off the ship and heading straight for the stomach of the huge Heartless. She flipped around while she could and tried to hit the side of his mouth. She was successful, and she ran along the side of the whale to its head, planting a huge hit on its emblem. Its stomach's mouth closed and it returned to circling the ship.

Riku looked around the ship and saw Jim running down to the hold. He ran after him and grabbed his shoulder, "How do we get out there?"

"What are you doing here?" Jim asked, and he ran down the steps again. Riku followed him, "Wait, I need to get out there! Saiyoku's on the Heartless and I have to go help!"

Jim sighed, "Alright, fine, come with me," he ran further into the hold and past the kitchen. He led Riku to where the boats were kept. He opened the hatch in the bottom of the ship and began untying one of the smaller boats. Riku helped, and together they dropped down into the sky, flying up to the Heartless' face.

Riku asked him to pull up to the Heartless' eye, and Jim obliged. He attacked the eye until the Heartless stopped and was able to be fired at. Several laser canon balls dug themselves into the Heartless' gut, and the Heartless groaned in pain. Riku hopped up onto its head where he found Saiyoku attacking the head.

"Saiyoku! I have an idea of how to finish it off!"

"Yeah, and what's that?"

"C'mere!" He yelled over the Heartless' moans and the canon's blasts. She ran to his side and he explained his plan. She smiled in approval and they both jumped up into the air, Saiyoku doing a back flip, and put their Keyblades together at the tips. They raised them and a huge Dark ball gathered at the tips. They threw it down onto the Heartless' head. It gave one more moan and withered up, falling into the oblivion below. It dissipated as it collapsed and a huge heart was released, rising up.

They landed in the boat as Jim caught them, taking them back to the ship. The crew pulled them off the boat and pushed them in front of their Captain. She looked at them sternly.

"Heh, hey there…" Saiyoku said nervously, "We can explain about that whole Heartless business…"

"You saved our ship," the Captain said simply.

"Well… I don't know that we were the only ones—"

"We are truly grateful for your help. Well done," she continued, and she ordered the crew to back off, "They helped us with that monster. They are now our allies, part of our crew. If anyone starts a fight with them, they will be punished just they would if they fought with me."

"R-really? Thank you!" Saiyoku said appreciatively. Riku nodded while the Captain turned to talk to one of the crew members.

"See? All better!" Saiyoku said to Riku, but he merely shrugged.

"Okay fine, be that way."

Captain Amelia approached the two of them, "We thank you. Now, about that creature you explained as a 'Heartless'. Could you tell us more?"

Saiyoku and Riku looked at each other before looking back up at the cat like woman.

"Well… as much as we can, that is." Saiyoku explained, and she motioned for them to come into the Captain's Quarters again.

"Dr. Dilbert! Come with us please!" She called, and a dog-man followed them into the room. The Captain locked the door and sat at her desk.

"Now, tell us about that creature Miss…?"

"Saiyoku."

"No last name?"

"No ma'am."

"I see… anyway, will you tell us more about this creature?"

"Okay. So, that was what we call a Heartless and they are formed when…"

--

"So, this was one of the larger ones."

"And one of the stupider ones. There are more of them too. Smaller ones. There were some down in the hold while we were there."

"So, we have an infestation on our ship do we? I see… Well, what do you two suggest we should do?"

"Well, we can take care of them for you. May I ask where you are headed?" Saiyoku offered, but Riku was thinking otherwise.

"It's merely an expedition." Captain Amelia explained, twirling the lost Mr. Arrow's hat in her fingers. She set it down on the desk and stood up, her chair scraping the wooden floor with a screech.

The door burst open with a bang. Jim burst into the room, "Captain! Mutiny! The crew—!" He slammed the door shut just as a little pink thing followed him, making tiny squeaky sounds.

"Mutiny!?" She exclaimed, and Jim began to explain.

"Silver! He's a pirate! The whole crew are pirates!"

The Captain unlocked the cupboard across from her desk and pulled out a gun, loading it, "Pirates on my ship! I'll see they all hang!" She tossed the Doctor the gun while Saiyoku and Riku drew their Keyblades, "Doctor, familiar with these?" She asked while pulling out a small golden sphere.

"Oh, these? Well, I um… well, I've seen… um…" He held the thing daintily, but the gun fired a shot at the Captain's globe next to the cupboard.

"Uh, well, nope. No I'm not." He said finally, and she just rolled her eyes. The pink glob looked at the sphere in her hands, laughing at his reflection. The door handle began to glow fiery red; the pirates were trying to get inside.

"Riku, what are we gonna do?" Saiyoku muttered to him, and he frowned, "Well, we could always try and help. But… we could always leave…"

"We can't just leave. Not after we told them we'd help."

"After YOU told them we'd help."

Captain Amelia turned to them, "Quit your jabbering and move!"

She blasted a huge hole in the floor a few seconds after they moved in the exact same spot. In she went, followed by the Doctor and Jim, as well as the pink thing. The door handle flared with red while Saiyoku and Riku looked at each other. They immediately knew what to do. A Dark Portal closed over them, and they disappeared seconds before the pirates burst into the room.


	13. Deja Vu Anyone?

"Why'd you make us come here?"

"'Cause the Organization's here. I heard that Xigbar guy say something about a dragon while we were in Betwixt and Between," Riku explained, sitting on a huge boulder in the Land of Dragons.

"But… Treasure Planet…" Saiyoku said hesitantly; she regretted leaving them behind.

"Relax. I'm sure they're fine. Besides, it's just one little world—"

"It's not just one little world! There are people still living there, living their lives without even knowing that their world is in danger! What is wrong with you? Are you so eager to see your best friend that you would put others' lives in danger!? What happened to regretting destroying all those worlds when you gave into the Darkness? If you don't do anything now then you're just helping the Darkness destr—"

"Shut up! I don't need you chastising me for an opinion! If you want to help them then be my guest! They don't mean anything to us!"

"Riku, quit acting like you're five! They may not mean much to us, but they mean everything to the people in that world! Now if you have a reason for being here, then get off your lazy butt and get a move on!"

Riku glared at her and disappeared through a Dark Portal while Saiyoku climbed the rest of the mountain to the Village Ruins. She rummaged through the burnt wood and relics of the people's life, but there was nothing there that could be of use to her or Riku. A sudden thud in the snow caught her attention; she stood stock still, hoping and praying it wasn't Sora.

"I wonder how everybody's doin'?"

_No, no, no, no! You've got to be kidding me! They caught me off guard too…_

"Look!"

Saiyoku turned around thinking, _Please don't be pointing at me, please don't be pointing at me… Ack! _ She took off when she saw that Donald was pointing at her, and she had Sora's full attention.

"Wait!" He called after her, but Saiyoku kept running up the mountain.

_I don't think so! Riku, where'd you go? Is there any point to us coming here?_ She ran up the steep snowy trail to the Ridge, where she tripped and fell over some fireworks.

"Why the heck do they have these here!?" She yelled, getting to her feet, "And where the heck is Riku!?" She looked around; she didn't see anyone, so she clambered up the even steeper slope to the Summit just as Sora and his friends reached the Ridge.

"Riku! I know you're up here! I'm leaving! You can deal with him yourself!"

Riku turned around in surprise, "He found you already? Some help you are!"

"Shut up! You deal with him! He caught me off guard and you didn't tell me what to do, so I'm going somewhere else where he can't see me. He'll be utterly confused if he sees you and me here at the same time. Goodbye!" She vanished, planning to go through Betwixt and Between as a shortcut.

"Dang it, Saiyoku! Ugh!" Riku immediately silenced himself and disappeared with her, but she pushed him back into play, "Oh, no you don't. You're not getting off the hook that easily!"

"Wha—Saiyoku! Don't—!"

"Get out there!" She pushed him through another portal and closed it, using the in between world to go to the Imperial Square.

--

"Saiyoku, you know what? You're really getting on my nerves today…"

"Yeah? And you're not getting on mine? By the way, did you get a chance to talk to the Emperor?"

"Yes…"

Saiyoku was dragging Riku into the Dark Portal. She was determined to get him to go back to Treasure Planet. After all, it was their responsibility to put the world back in order.

"What'd you tell him?"

"That Sora, Donald, and Goofy had arrived and that they would take care of the dragon Heartless that the Organization created."

"You think we should go back?" She asked, putting her hands behind her head casually. Riku shrugged, "No, why? And what's with all the questions?"

"Well… we told them we'd help, that's the first reason, and then there's the fact that… well, that Scroop guy. Did you notice? He's a Heartless, and you and I both know that under the circumstances, that world can't handle Heartless on their own, or Nobodies; we told them we'd get rid of them, so we can't just bail now, and besides, what else are we supposed to do? Sora doesn't exactly have all the time in the world, nor do we, and right now, Sora's wasting time going back to all the worlds; we are supposed to be helping him, so if we take care of the Heartless and the Nobodies in this world, then Sora doesn't have to waste time here or at any of the three other worlds he has yet to discover." Saiyoku pressed him to make the decision quickly, after all, who knew what was happening in the world. What was Silver and Scroop up to? What had happened to the Captain, Jim, and Dr. Dilbert?

"I say we don't go back."

"You're as stubborn as always. Look, if we take care of it, then Sora will never have to come here, and then he'll never find out about you and me being here. See? It all works out."

"…"

"Oh, c'mon you idiot…" She opened a portal and pulled him through, now in the hold of the ship again. The dim pipe-filled room was new to them. It must have been past the main hold.

"Be on your guard." She told him, and he sighed, "Like you needed to tell me that…"

"Well I'm sorry." she muttered, annoyed. She grabbed his arm and pulled him down the long misty hallway, aware of all that was around them. It was hard to see though, and the shadows played tricks on their eyes: every which way there would be someone standing there, but it would always turn out to be some piping or a stack of items that they didn't recognize.

"Man, I hate it down here."

"What are we supposed to be doing down here in the first place?" He asked, rolling his eyes. Saiyoku, not listening, shushed him and hid the both of them behind some crates. A few pirates passed by, not realizing that the two intruders were right behind them; on the other hand…

"Whew, thank goodness I heard that…" Saiyoku muttered.

"Yeah, we would've been seen."

"Yessss… you two would have been caught… how dreadful…" A harsh voice said behind them, and Saiyoku was grabbed from behind, flung around and thrown against the crates.

"Saiyoku!" Riku glanced behind him, but turned his attention to their enemy before he could see if she got up or not, "Dang it you filthy—!"

"Shut up!" Scroop grabbed Riku's front and pushed him against the crates like Saiyoku. He lowered his claw to Riku's neck and threatened to slit his throat when a huge beam of light hit him in the chest, sending him flying.

"Heh, looks like I was right. You HAVE become a Heartless. The Darkness got to your heart, and now you can't stand the Light. No wonder it affected you so easily, my feeble little light that I sent at you…" Saiyoku said, Keyblade in hand and a smirk on her face, but despite all that, she looked worn down for some weird reason.

Riku drew his Keyblade as well and stood by her side, taking his stance while teasing her, "Someone looks out of shape. What, a few bumps and you're already tired?"

"Shut up. My heart is as Dark as yours is. I'd like to see you try and summon a Light from your heart that strong."

"You've got a point there."

"You two had better shut up, or your lives will be on the line." The arachni-crustacean hissed, drawing his sword. They took him from both sides: Saiyoku came from behind, but Scroop raised his sword and blocked it, counterattacking with a downward slash blow that slashed through a pipe. Though it seemed fortunate, Saiyoku dodged his blow, only to be showered in the chest, neck, and arms with hot steam.

"Agh!" She screamed, backing away. "Saiyoku!" Riku yelled, getting one of Scroop's legs. He fell over, grabbing hold of one of the pipes to catch himself, but the steam that spewed from it hit him in the face. Scroop screamed in agony, while Saiyoku regained herself, chopping off another leg.

"Dang you little brat!" He screamed at her, taking the pipe and getting ready to swing it at her face, but Riku slammed his Keyblade down on his enemy's shoulder. Scroop scurried to his feet and scrambled out of the hold, up onto the deck. No one was aboard except him and those two pirates, who were no where to be seen.

"Are you alright?" Riku asked, standing by her side while she tore off her destroyed Organization cloak, "Yeah. Just hope and pray that Sora doesn't come while we're busy…"

"Your arms are covered in burns…"

"I know, I know, but at least it's not as bad as his face. Now, c'mon, we have to go after him," she said, her hand clenching her Keyblade tight enough to turn her knuckles white. Riku nodded and they followed Scroop up onto the deck. He was climbing the main mast, but he was busy fighting someone else: Jim Hawkins.

"How'd he get here?" Riku asked, but Saiyoku just shrugged and grinned, "Well, it saves us the trouble of getting rid of him…"

"True."

--

"So, uh, Jim. Where exactly are we going?" Saiyoku asked, folding her arms behind her head while Jim steered the boat, Riku looking bored as usual while he sat next to a very annoying robot.

"Treasure Planet. The Captain and Dr. Dilbert are there in hiding from the rest of the pirates… Oh, by the way, where did you guys go?"

"We had to take care of a few things. Anyway, who's that?" She explained, but pointed to the robot next to Riku.

"That's Ben. I found him on the planet. He's letting us stay at his place. We'll get there soon. There's a shortcut."

"I see… So what's going on?"

"The Captain's been injured and the Doctor is taking care of her. The pirates are watching us and this ship is actually one we stole from them. The entire planet is basically made up of machines and we haven't located the treasure yet. What happened to your black coat that you always wore?"

"It got destroyed by that guy Scroop." She shrugged while Riku just rolled his eyes; it didn't go unnoticed.

"Ri—Ansem, don't give me that look. He was just asking."

"…" Riku looked away as if he didn't care, but that only made Saiyoku smile more.

"We're here. Now, be quiet. That includes you too, Ben." Jim muttered at the robot, who had been carrying on his own conversation by himself in an attempt to talk to Riku.

"Yes sir!"

"Shh! For crying out loud!" Jim whispered as he landed the boat. He docked it and climbed down, his companions following him into the metal underground tunnels of the planet. They went through different passageways until they finally found their way back up into Ben's place. Jim immediately went to the shadows of the room, "Doc! Doc, wake up! I got the map."

A metal hand reached out and grabbed the little golden ball that Jim was holding as Saiyoku and Riku ducked out of sight with the robot.

"Fine work, Jimbo. Fine work, indeed." A cyborg showed himself from the shadows, clearly the leader of the pirates. Growling and jeering from the pirates surrounding the room could suddenly be heard along with the muffled voices of the Doc and the Captain. They were bound and gagged in the hands of the enemies and more of the pirates were closing in around Jim. Others grabbed Saiyoku and Riku before they had the chance to duck down into the 'back door' as Ben called it while one other grabbed Ben, "What's this sorry stack of metal? And look who else decided to show up? The two little bilge rats from before."

"Not the face!" Ben yelled, but the pirates had them.

"Saiyoku… Why must you insist on coming to this world when every time we come back here, we end up getting captured by pirates!?" Riku hissed at her, but she had nothing more to say, so she just gave an apologetic smile and shrugged.


	14. The Truth

"Now, where'd these two come from? Never saw them on the ship. Did you find them on me ship, Jimbo?" Silver asked, pointing to Saiyoku and Riku, but Jim shook his head, "No. Let them go. They have nothing to do with this."

"Oh, is that so? Well, we'll let them go, that's fer sure… we'll let them go to Davy Jones' locker! Blast them to bits. I've got to open that map." Silver instructed his crew, and several of them grabbed their proton guns and charged them.

"Riku… this would be really good time to open a portal…" Saiyoku said through gritted teeth while he just looked at her in disbelief, "Why me? You can do it too you know. Besides, I thought you wanted to help these people!"

"Have you forgotten? My cloak was destroyed. I can't open a portal now. You know very well that I can't use much of my Dark powers unless I'm wearing that thing because I'm more in the Light than you are. Anyway, I know what I said, but we'll come back when they aren't surrounded by pirates, okay? Now open one!" She hissed.

"Alright, alright. Just make sure you don't knock one in with us. That won't be good."

"Right."

"Fire at will, boys!" Silver shouted, still trying to open the little golden ball; his crew raised their guns and aimed. Saiyoku stood up and kicked behind her at the alien behind her, knocking it back into the hole they had come through.

"Saiyoku, what are you doing!?" Riku shouted, but she stepped in front of him as the shots were fired. The blasts hit her everywhere, but she stood still, "Riku, open the dang portal already! I didn't do this for nothing, I did it so you could open the portal, dang it!"

He regained his composure and opened it, Saiyoku jumping in after him and shutting it behind her. She collapsed to her knees next to him and stripped herself of her jacket so she could see her shoulders and neck. There were a few burn marks from the proton lasers, but thankfully, they seemed to be a bit immune to the weapons in that world as usual. It didn't surprise her that she wasn't bleeding. They never did, not once. It wouldn't matter even if they ran themselves through with their own Keyblades: there still wouldn't be any blood.

"Argh, why did you do that? You just got hurt." Riku scolded her; she glared at him, "Right, because I was supposed to just sit there while both of us got shot. Better just me than both of us. Besides, I was already injured from that steam coming from those pipes. Dang that stupid alien. We need to go back to the Mansion and get me a new Nobody coat. Do you mind?"

"Wha—? No, of course I don't, but why are you so worried about that? If I were you, I'd be more worried about those burns than of your clothing."

"Heh, it's no big deal. It's just a few burns."

"You know, you don't have to be so masochistic all the time. You can be weak sometimes; it's okay to feel helpless. Sometimes that's the best thing; you need to learn to let people care about you more."

"Huh? Where did this come from? Are you feeling okay?" Saiyoku reached up and felt his forehead, but he just groaned, "Forget it. And in all honesty, you're the one who needs to be taken care of…"

"Alright, alright. But, really, it's no big deal," Saiyoku stood up and grabbed her jacket, "It's only a few burns here and there and—argh…" She gritted her teeth and held her forehead.

"Hey, you should start listening to me more often. You really did do it this time…"

"Is it just me, or is the room spinning?"

"Don't go unconscious on me now. At least wait until we get to the Mansion," Riku reached for her shoulder, but she fell before he could grab her, "Agh! Saiyoku…" He picked her up and sighed, "Well, I suppose I can forgive you for this, since it doesn't happen often…"

He carried her out of Betwixt and Between into the Mansion, where he set her down against the wall of the Computer Room; he left her there while he went to go get her a new Organization coat. When he came back, he did what he could to the burns and to the one on her forehead that had caused her dizziness: it was deep enough to have caused internal damage. It was amazing to him that she hadn't realized that she had been hit there.

"You really don't care what happens to you, do you? Wish I could say the same…" He murmured, sitting next to her. He brushed aside a strand of her hair that had fallen in her face and sighed, "What am I supposed to do until you wake up? This is becoming ridiculously annoying… I'm getting sick of staying hidden, but it's for Sora's sake… and yours…"

--

Saiyoku sat up and groaned, holding her head, "Uh, where… am I? Huh? Riku? Riku!" She looked around to find herself on a huge rock formation, a blue heart shaped moon above her surrounded by clouds. "Could that be… could that be Kingdom Hearts!?" In front of her were Terra and Master Xehanort, who was kneeling before the brown-haired teen, a look of defeat on his face. A huge explosion shook the rock face; Master Xehanort looked to the sky and pointed to a huge beam of light behind Terra, a smile growing on his face. He was saying something, but no sound came from his mouth.

They both looked at the huge beam as Xehanort got to his feet, picked up his Keyblade and impaled himself, light pouring from his chest as his heart was released.

"No!" Saiyoku yelled, and tried to stop him by pulling the Keyblade from his hands, but she went right through him, "What? Am I… just an illusion? Or are they the illusion?"

But his heart did not disappear; instead, it stayed above Xehanort and did as its master willed: entered Terra's body. He tried to resist by putting on his armor, but it did nothing. Xehanort disappeared while Terra's helmet fell off, the rest of his armor falling apart... but Terra didn't look like Terra. Rather, he had silver hair and cat-like yellow eyes.

"No… no way… is that…?" Saiyoku backed away, remembering seeing the picture of the same man in Ansem's study, "Terra… is he Ansem? I can't believe it… Terra became Ansem because of Master Xehanort! And… he kind of looks like Xemnas too."

"Are you afraid?" A voice asked behind her, and she spun on her heels, seeing an image of Terra.

"What the—? Terra? But, isn't that you? Wait, why should I even talk to you!? You caused all the worlds to fall into Darkness! It was you! How could you! You had a world of your own! You—mphhh!" His hand covered her mouth. The vision melted away, leaving her and Terra—whose image became whole—alone in Darkness.

"You don't understand so let me explain. Master Xehanort's heart entered my body. He took control of me and I lost part of my heart as I battled him inside. Eventually, I lost. My memory was wiped, and the first thing I said as I came to was the name 'Xehanort'. That became my new alias as I began an apprenticeship with a man named Ansem the Wise. You know him as DiZ."

"DiZ is really Ansem!?" Saiyoku pulled off his hand, but he put it back to silence her again.

"No, he's Ansem the Wise. He took me in and I studied the workings of the heart, my interest in it was fueled by Master Xehanort's thirst for knowledge. I began to be absorbed by my work, but Ansem the Wise wanted me to stop doing my research. I disobeyed him and rallied his other apprentices: most of them are in the Organization now. Dilan, Aeleus, Even, Ienzo, and Braig became Xaldin, Lexaeus, Vexen, Zexion, and Xigbar in Organization XIII along with my own Nobody: Xemnas.

"Eventually, I was able to cast Ansem the Wise to a world he called Zero Dimension, and from thence he called himself DiZ, or Darkness in Zero. I continued my research, took Ansem the Wise's name, and pulled the world once known as Radiant Garden into Darkness, the inhabitants thrust into different worlds. You know some of them as well. One of them was Kairi, the princess of that world. She was sent to your world, while some of the inhabitants that were unable to escape became Heartless and Nobodies. Two of them joined the Organization: Lea and Isa became Axel and Saïx."

"And what's the point on you telling me all this?"

"For you to understand what's happening to you, what happened in the past, and what will happen in the future."

"Are you telling me you can see into the future?"

"No. Now, can I continue? Or are you going to ask more questions?"

"Just hurry it up…"

"That's the me in you."

'What?"

"Nothing. Now, after the world collapsed, I myself was pulled back into the Darkness. I became a Heartless and a Nobody as is natural, and my Heartless continued calling himself Ansem. My Nobody formed the Organization, and here I am, forever haunting you inside your head."

"'Scuse me?"

"Just kidding. But now that you know what happened to me, it's time for you to see what happened to Ventus during our final battle with Xehanort and Vanitas."

The Darkness became brightened by a large circular platform with a stained glass floor. Ventus was standing in the center while a boy wearing the same thing Vanitas had been wearing and holding a double Keyblade floated down to the ground.

"What… is that?" Saiyoku asked, and Terra responded, "The X-Blade. It was formed by Ventus and Vanitas' reunion. They are the same person."

Vanitas raised the X-Blade, and only then did Saiyoku realize the boy's true face.

"S-Sora? Sora, is that you!?"

"That's not your friend. That is still Vanitas."

"But…"

"Look. His hair is black, while Sora's is brown. His eyes are yellow while Sora's are blue. Those are the two major differences that you can see other than a change in clothing. But, I suppose you would be able to tell that Sora has a happier and carefree demeanor than Vanitas, who is the Dark part of Ventus' heart."

Vanitas lowered the Keyblade threateningly, but Ventus merely shook his head as if he knew Vanitas was missing something important but blatantly obvious. He summoned his own Keyblade and took his stance. The Sora look-a-like made a strange face that could've been from him laughing. They both continued speaking inaudibly, but it wasn't long before they took their stances and began to fight. Terra smiled as the scene faded, "You know what happens next. They fight; the thing that's important, though, is what happens after that."

Ventus was floating in midair, in a stance that showed he had just struck down Vanitas. His enemy was flying backward, seemingly caught in slow motion as he desperately reached for the X-Blade that had fallen from his hand. He fell below as the double Keyblade lit up and shattered into thousands of pieces, Ventus' Keyblade doing the same.

Vanitas continued falling, changing to light and fading away, being absorbed into the black platform and enlightening it, Ventus falling among the light and disappearing the same way, his heart leaving him.

"What? No! Ventus!" Saiyoku screamed, but a light tap on the shoulder caught her attention. Ventus stood next to her.

"Ven! What—how—you were just—"

"Saiyoku, relax. You just saw what happened around eleven years ago. It's over and done with. End of story."

"Eleven years ago? Never would've guessed. So, are you going to tell me what happened to you, like Terra?"

"Yep. Now, after I lost my heart, it wasn't long before someone reached out to me. A little boy who looked a lot like Vanitas—"

"Sora! Sora reached out to you?"

Ven laughed, "Yes, it was Sora. He talked to me when I was surrounded by Darkness, kept the Light around me. I explained to him that I had to sleep again. He asked if I was sad, but I only asked him if I could join his heart inside him. He said that if it would make me happy, then yes. My heart went to sleep inside him, and I have stayed dormant inside him. Roxas looks a lot like me, but I am unsure why. Maybe it's because of the bond that Sora and I share. Anyway, when my heart was released, a part of it was separated. It sought to be whole again, and so it joined together with another broken heart inside Kingdom Hearts. That fragment was part of Terra's heart. Kingdom Hearts used its power to fill in the gap, and together, they all became one.

"The heart became a new being, and it lived its own life in a world, completely unbeknownst of what it was or where it had come from."

"Do you understand now, Saiyoku? Do you understand what happened to us? What happened to that heart?" Terra asked, resting his hand on her shoulder.

"The heart lived as its own being… what world did it live in?" She asked, and the two boys laughed a bit before becoming very serious. Ventus looked at her sadly, "Destiny Islands."


	15. Mind Shatter

"D-Destiny Islands? N-no… you can't mean…" Saiyoku shook her head in refusal.

"You can't keep denying it, Saiyoku. You're a Nobody and a Heartless, which is only possible for Kingdom Hearts. That heart we just talked about was part of Ven's heart and mine, as well as Kingdom Hearts. You can't remember what happened since before your fifth birthday because you had to start a life on your own at an age when you can fend for yourself as much as you could because you had no parents. They never existed, Saiyoku! You didn't dissipate when your body was taken over by the Darkness, and you were still conscious inside Riku's mind because you can't be returned just yet—" Saiyoku interrupted Terra.

"—Can't be returned? What do you mean?"

"Those voices you heard in one of your dreams? Those people pleading for mercy, for release? You could hear their cries because they are inside you: they are the hearts inside Kingdom Hearts! Do you get it now, Saiyoku?" Ventus continued, but Saiyoku shook her head harder, gripping the sides of her head tightly.

"I… I don't… ARRGGGHHH!" She screamed, falling to her knees. Her head was throbbing; she didn't want to hear anymore… she was too afraid.

Terra grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet, putting his hands on both of her shoulders and looking her dead in the face, "Saiyoku. YOU ARE THE LIVING KINGDOM HEARTS."

"I'm not! I'm not! I'm me! I'm Saiyoku, a person who lived on Destiny Islands all her life! I can't be—!"

"But you are, Saiyoku! You are the living Kingdom Hearts and you will have to return to Kingdom Hearts in the end! But now is not the time: you will return when you are needed to complete it. Please, Saiyoku. Don't make this any harder for us. We have to tell you one more thing, and then we promise we'll leave you alone for today." Ventus pleaded with her; he knew he had to tell her eventually.

"Shut up! Shut up, I don't want to hear any more!"

"Saiyoku, snap out of it! What happened to the Saiyoku who was always so strong, who never broke down like this?" Terra shook her limp figure that was just on the edge of crying.

"Riku said that it's okay to be weak sometimes, and I figure, this is one of those times!"

"Well, don't break down just yet. This is only going to get worse." Ventus said sadly. He looked up at Terra and prodded him to be the one to tell her.

"Why must I always be the bearer of bad news?" He whispered, but Ventus just gave him his just-do-it look. Terra sighed and turned to Saiyoku, "Please, just one more thing. This is going to be the most painful truth we have to tell you."

"W-what?"

"Saiyoku… when you return to Kingdom Hearts… you're going to vanish, disappear, cease to exist… in other words, you will die. You're consciousness and human body will be destroyed, but your heart will live on as Kingdom Hearts."

"I'm… I'm going to die?" Saiyoku's voice cracked for the first time in her life. Her body shook and she crumpled to her knees again. Ventus knelt beside her and glared up at Terra, "Jeez, you didn't have to say it so coldly. We can't really comfort her anyway, so you could've at least said it a little… I don't know… nicely? If that's even possible…"

"Then you should've done it."

"Whatever."

Ventus turned back to Saiyoku, "We're sorry; we know we can't comfort you. There's only one person that can right now. But, keep this in mind: You don't have to return to Kingdom Hearts. It's your choice. But think about all the people who need freedom from that prison, and then make your decision. We'll leave you alone for now, okay?"

She didn't respond, so Ven and Terra took that as a sign to leave. The scene faded away, and she woke up to find Riku's arms wrapped around her tightly.

"What… what are you doing?" She asked, out of breath, her face pale and tear-soaked like the sleeves of his coat.

"Oh, you're awake. You were writhing so much in your sleep that I had to keep you from moving. You were making so much of a fit and screaming that I had to do something."

_Were my tears the reason that his sleeves are soaked?_ She wondered. He released her, but she just turned and wrapped her arms around him instead, digging her face into his chest and breaking down like she did in her dream.

He was so startled by her sudden change in personality that he nearly grabbed her and pushed her away; but he regained his composure and held her close, letting her cry as much as she wanted. It wasn't usual for her to do this.

"Do you want to tell me what they said this time?"

Saiyoku thought about it for a long time: would it be a good idea to tell him, or would it just cause all sorts of problems? She decided not to, so she shook her head, her thoughts swimming. _I'm the living Kingdom Hearts. I don't even see how that's possible. On another note, I'm going to die… no! I just won't return! They can't make me, I don't care about any of those people, and I don't see what the big deal is... what does Kingdom Hearts need me for, anyway?_

Riku's hand ran through her hair, his typical way of calming her down; he saw it was no use. Something had broken her inside, completely shattered her. How was he supposed to help her if she wouldn't tell him anything? He didn't want to pry: they were her dreams after all, but he had to get more information.

"Who was it that talked to you today?" He whispered, not entirely sure whether to expect an answer or not. He got one anyway, "Ventus and Terra." Riku looked down at her and pressed his lips against the top of her head, but she didn't notice; she was too busy thinking about what they had told her today.

"What did they say?"

No answer.

"Alright then, was it something bad?"

She nodded into his coat.

"Bad enough you can't tell me?"

No answer again. He sighed, "Okay, you win. You don't have to say anything else if you don't want to."

Her voice was a whisper, "It involves you in a way, Riku."

"What?"

"I can't really go into detail… but, it does involve you some. I… I just can't tell you."

"Okay. It's alright, it's alright."

Saiyoku's mind shattered, the last bit of strong sanity vanished from within her.

"Stop saying that!" She screamed and pulled away from him, her eyes red and puffy from the tears "Stop it! Just shut up! It's not alright, so don't pretend like it is!"

"I just—"

"Just shut up, Riku! Don't you get it? Nothing's okay anymore! Nothing! So just shut up!"

"Saiyoku! Calm do—"

"I hate you!" She got up and kicked open the metal door, bursting out of the room and running up the stairs. She needed go somewhere. Anywhere. Just somewhere she could be alone.

"Saiyoku! SAIYOKU!" Riku yelled after her, chasing her up the stairs. She slammed the door in his face and jumped over the railing to the floor below, running out the door. Riku recovered and threw open the door, vaulting over the railing and tailing her.

She ran full speed through the forest, tripping over the roots and catching herself before bolting through the crack in the wall, high tailing it out of the Market Place, up through Station Heights, into the Station and up on the clock tower. She sat down on the edge and held her head in her hands, her nails digging into her skin from the sheer grip she had. Tears kept pouring over her face and falling to the ground below while she mentally screamed over and over again inside her head.

"_Saiyoku, don't go hating Riku for this…"_

"_Yeah, he didn't do anything wrong. In all honesty, you should hate us more than anyone."_

"SHUT UP! I DON'T NEED YOU GUYS HERE TOO!" She screamed at the top of her lungs at the mental images of Terra and Ventus standing before her, in midair. They shook their heads, _"We can't just leave. Not when you're like this. Especially since it's our fault."_

Ventus approached her and held out a hand, but she shied away, backing up against the wall… or what she thought was a wall. Before she knew it, a chakram was against her throat.

"Well, I came up here to ask myself what I was going to do next, and whaddya know: I find you. I have the best timing, don't you think?"

Saiyoku grabbed the chakram and flipped around to kick her would-be captor—Ventus and Terra vanishing—but he overtook her, sending her to the ground on her back, his chakrams pointing at her neck.

"Hello again… Saiyoku…" The way he said her name made her shudder.

"A-Axel…"


	16. Because I

"It's been awhile. You don't look so good: you have burns all over you and you're shaking like a leaf. Jeez, what happened to you?"

"A-Axel…"

"Yeah, you've already said my name. Jeez, don't wear it out, 'kay? So, what happened?"

"N-none of your business…" Her voice was shaking just as much as her body. She fought for the self-control not to keep screaming, not to do anything reckless.

"You're completely terrified. Of what, I wonder? Heh, Saix didn't do anything to you, did he?"

Saiyoku wasn't in the mood to listen to him or his jokes. She grabbed the chakram and pulled it to the side; there was nowhere else to throw it but over the side of the tower. Axel hung on, jamming his other chakram into the ground beside her neck, catching himself and digging the other chakram on the other side of her exposed throat. He had her pinned: a terrified, injured girl who barely had the strength to speak.

"You just never learn, Saiyoku."

"She doesn't have to."

Axel spun around to see Riku leaning against the wall, his arms folded against his chest. The pyro grabbed the chakrams from Saiyoku's neck and smiled, spinning them in his hands, "So, looks like she wasn't alone like I thought. You'll prove to be a much more exciting fight than her."

"Leave Saiyoku alone, Nobody." The way he spoke was like ice, even chilling Saiyoku to the bone. Axel grimaced, "I don't need you to remind me what I am."

Riku drew his Keyblade, but kept it to his side, looking at Axel dangerously; Saiyoku couldn't help but remember that it was her fault his expression was wracked with pain and sorrow. She got to her knees and bowed her head, "R-Riku… I—"

"—Save it." He interjected, his voice was harsh to her ears, and she didn't dare look at him now.

"But—"

"Shut up, Saiyoku." This time, he was calm; it was a scary calm, the one that tells your instincts that there was something much more menacing behind those words that you think. It sent a flurry of questions to Saiyoku's broken mind: was he angry? sad? was he protecting her? or was it just her own false impression that made her think that he was doing this for her… when it was instead his own anger at the Organization and the incentive to destroy any of them that came near?

Constant was the rush of emotions that collided inside and embraced her; a fear of leaving this life… a pure terror that rose within her at the slightest mention of hearts. Yes, this was the new presence of mind for Saiyoku, one she hoped to overcome. Lost intuitions that had long since buried themselves within the human conscience were released; the newest instinct that swelled inside her entire being was of pure consequence from the knowledge of her fate; it was something she'd never experienced, something she had never needed before, but it came to her now: the need for survival. As petty as it sounds, this instinct seemed appropriate to her. She didn't want to die; after all, who in their right mind would?

The stare down between the two entities of Darkness continued, not a single movement was seen, nor was a word spoken amongst them. Weapons in hand, they watched each other, cold eyes staring deep into the others, as if one could see the very soul of the enemy. It was as if they had become statues, waiting for the other to make a move—an excuse to attack and kill. Time itself seemed to slow, leaving the two in an unrelenting frozen standstill.

Eventually, Riku released his Keyblade, the weapon vanishing into a smoky Darkness. He sighed a pained sigh and glanced at Saiyoku, saying, "I won't fight you, Axel."

"What?"

"You heard me, Nobody. I said I won't fight you," he sauntered right past him, as if he was still the stone statue, and he held out his hand to Saiyoku—almost reluctantly, "C'mon. Let's go." His voice returned to the harshness of before, the calm evaporating and bringing the storm that had been held back.

"Okay…" She muttered, taking his hand and pulling herself to her feet, still not looking at him. Axel growled and spun his chakrams threateningly, "Don't you walk away from me!"

"I just did," Riku said darkly, glancing back at him slowly, "Or do you feel like going back to where you came from?"

"Tch, don't play games with me! Coward!"

Saiyoku watched as this accusation struck a chord of anger within Riku, but he seemed to keep it under control. He pushed Saiyoku to the stairs and stopped at the top, turning around swiftly and hitting an unsuspecting Axel with a Dark Aura, yelling out to him as he fell off the tower, "That's for calling me a coward!"

He slid past Saiyoku and beckoned her to come with him. She obeyed like a lifeless puppet, following him silently and slowly. Only once did he ask her to speed up as he led her back to the Mansion and down into the basement. Once the door shut behind them, Riku grabbed her arm roughly and pinned her to the wall; she made no movement, no refusal.

"Dang it, Saiyoku! What happened in that dream!?"

"I told you before. I can't tell you." She was quiet, her voice still quivering like her body; but Riku wouldn't take that as an answer.

"You can't tell me. You can't tell me. IS THAT ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY? WHY? WHY CAN'T YOU TELL ME!? Don't you want to tell anybody what is bothering you so badly? Enough to nearly send you over the edge and break you!?" He released her and turned around, and in putting his hand on his forehead, he quickly turned back around and slapped her sharply across her face.

She stood there, stunned. No thoughts passed through her mind; eye contact was not an issue anymore. She straightened herself and stared him dead in the eye, her skin flushing a deep red where his hand had made contact.

"Why… the heck… did you do that?" Her voice forgot its weariness and quietness, and became loud and harsh. Her eyes were no longer dull but full of life, dancing in the dim blue lights that filled the room; her whole being seemed to be full of life again in such a short time.

"What else was I supposed to do? You were a complete zombie! You had no life in you anymore! You didn't care about anything! You acted as if you just wanted to die, right then and there."

Saiyoku froze, grabbed the shoulder of his coat, and pulled him close, her teeth gritted tight, "Now, explain to me… who in their right mind would want to die? Why would anyone choose that?"

"I don't know… maybe if their life was terrible, if they thought their life had no meaning and there was no point to living."

"Now what about a person who believes their life is great just the way it is. What if they're happy and they don't want to die, but they have to… not for their sake, but for others' sakes. Why do you think they would agree to that?"

"They would agree because that's the right thing to do."

"Why is it the right thing to do?"

"Because if they didn't give their life up for others, then they were just being selfish and people wouldn't respect them anymore. Now, if they gave up their life, then they would be acting selflessly, which I personally believe we should all strive to do."

"But what makes it right?"

"The fact that you are acting for others."

"But what's the point if you don't know them? Why should you give up your life for strangers?"

"Why should anyone give up their life in the first place? Come on, enough questions about death already."

Saiyoku released him and stared at the ground, "Riku… death is something that is much more real than we make out to believe. It seems like something that should happen when we grow old and decrepit, and we can't do anything anymore. But… how is it fair for someone to die when they are so young?"

"Does this have to do with your dream?"

"Answer me this one last question: what would you choose? Giving up your life for others, or living?"

Riku stayed silent for awhile, thinking hard about the choice. Minutes passed, but then he sighed, "I'd give my life up for others. But you know… I have so much to atone for, so many lives I have destroyed with my stupid mistakes, that I really don't think it matters really. I think I'd finally atone for all my sins by doing that."

"So am I in the wrong if I said that I would rather live than die for others?"

"It's more of a matter of morals, Saiyoku. Would you be okay if you knew others were going die, but you selfishly chose to live. In my opinion, if you made that choice, it's just like me helping Ansem destroy the worlds. You'd have to atone for it in the end. I mean, think about all the lives you're ruining. Is one life really worth all those that died because of your selfish actions? Once again, does this have to do with your dream?"

"Yes…"

"How? Did Terra, Ventus, or Aqua have to make this choice?"

"No, but I have one more question."

"What?"

"Is it okay to be terrified of dying for others? If it's really better to do that, then why would it be so horrifying?"

"Of course it's okay to be afraid of dying, especially if it's going to be painful."

Saiyoku took a deep breath, breathing out slowly, "Riku… I'm the one who has to make that choice. It's a long story, but if you want to hear it—"

"—Y-you? But—!"

"—Do you want to hear the story or not? Yes or no?"

"Yes," he said, staggering back and falling to the floor against the wall adjacent to the beam machine. She explained everything, every little detail that she had heard and understood.

"So… you're going to die?" He asked, his voice quivering like hers.

"Yes Riku, I'm going to die now. I suppose… I've made my decision. I will die. All those innocent people are trapped inside of me and I need to free them."

"But… you can't die, not you!"

"I have to Riku!"

"No you don't!" He jumped up and grabbed her hands, staring into her pale brown eyes, "You can't! You can't because I… I…"


	17. Finit in Conspectus I

**(a/n see below)**

"You what, Riku?" Saiyoku asked, tears pouring down her cheek; and she thought it odd. Why was she the one crying?

"Ah! No, don't… don't cry, Saiyoku," he wiped her tears away gently, "Don't. You don't have to cry, because I will cry for you. You won't be alone in this, I promise. Know why? Because…" He leaned down and pressed his lips against hers softly, "I love you. I'd do anything for you, you know that don't you?"

She was stunned, unable to move or respond. Did Riku seriously just… kiss her? Did she just hear every word he had said correctly? Did any of that actually happen? Riku's hands were still holding on tightly to hers; his face still just inches away—close enough for his breath to warm her skin; so it must have really happened…

"Saiyoku?" He asked, wondering whether or not he might've gone a little too far. Her lips grew into a faint smile as she reached up and kissed him back; but footsteps interrupted her. They broke away, and the faint sound of voices grew louder.

"Who's here?" Saiyoku asked Riku, but he was just as surprised, "I don't know… C'mon, we need to leave. We can't be caught now."

"And if it's Sora?"

"…I don't know what we'll do."

"Well then, let's get going," Saiyoku grabbed his hand and pulled him into a Dark Portal. He followed obediently as they walked through the passage and into another one: to the World that Never Was. They were on top of Memory's Skyscraper, and the castle was visible in the distance.

"Why are we here?"

"I didn't open the passage to this place."

"What do you mean you didn't open that portal! You just walked through an open portal!"

"Yeah, but I felt like it was okay… like it was pulling us in."

"You're insane," Riku shook his head while Saiyoku released his hand. Neither of them could really comprehend what had happened back there; but one thing was certain: Riku had kissed her, and Saiyoku had kissed him back.

There wasn't any sign of life, and Riku had made sure of that when he had scanned the shady buildings for any of the worlds' inhabitants. He turned back to suggest heading somewhere else since they had no reason for being there, but when he did Saiyoku's attention was focused on something else—enough to completely ignore him when he tried to talk to her.

He followed her gaze to the silver floating castle, but then to the source of the only light in the cold world—the giant heart-shaped moon above the Nobodies' hideout.

"Kingdom Hearts…" Saiyoku murmured, scaring Riku for a second. She continued to stare at it unblinkingly with eyes full of fear; then she suddenly gripped her head in pain and backed away from the edge.

"Saiyoku? What's wrong? What is it?" Riku asked, but she didn't answer and instead took a giant leap from the skyscraper onto a tall nearby building, "Saiyoku!" He jumped after her, but she continued hopping from one building to the next, headed for the castle. The buildings were coming to an end; so instead, she jumped down into the only road that lead to the castle with Riku on her trail.

Voices swarmed inside her head again, screaming for release.

"_Let me out! Please!"_

"_Think of my children! Let me go home to them!"_

"_I don't want to be alone anymore!"_

"_Help me! Help me!"_

"_It's dark, I can't see! Help me!"_

"_Where am I? Please, someone help me! Anyone!"_

_Shut up! Leave me alone!_ She yelled inside her head, but they only grew louder. She began muttering their cries for mercy and help; she couldn't stop them.

The end of the road was nearing, but she stopped in time before she went over the cliff. Her companion finally caught up with her and grabbed her arm, spinning her around, "Saiyoku, what about Kingdom Hearts? Why are you so afraid of it?"

"_Let me out. I don't want to be alone. Why can't anyone hear me? I-I can't find myself in this Darkness… where am I?_" Her voice was fading in and out, like she was whispering her innermost thoughts. Eyes seeing things that Riku couldn't kept flashing back and forth like mad.

"Saiyoku! Snap out of it! What is this place doing to you?" He growled and his hands tightened on her shoulders until it became painful. She gasped, coming back due to the pressure on her arms.

"I-I feel like… I feel like it's suffocating me… pulling me in, just like the Dark Portal. I don't want to yet. I don't want to! Not yet, not now!" She said quietly, coming back to her senses.

"This place isn't somewhere you should be. C'mon, let's go back."

"No."

"What? Why not? You need to be somewhere else."

"There's someone else here."

"What!" Riku released her and looked around, expecting to see someone to fight; but Saiyoku corrected herself, "I meant in the castle. Oh, and the others have arrived. Finally…"

"Others? Wait, how do you know all this?"

"I don't know… I just do. Maybe… because I'm the living Kingdom Hearts and the other Kingdom Hearts is right up there. I think that whatever it sees I see. At least, right now."

"Who are the others?"

"Sora, Donald, Goofy, and the King."

"They're here? I must say… it's about time. How long did that moron think he needed to take?"

"Stop insulting Sora. C'mon, we need to find out whoever's in that castle."

"Alright..." Riku sighed, and they used their own shortcut method to infiltrate the castle as usual. Outside, a huge roar of thunder shook the building and lightning flashed.

"Great, a storm. Just what we need." Saiyoku muttered, leading Riku down a hallway that they had never been down before. She was completely unaware of her surroundings, not knowing exactly where it was she was going; she wasn't looking out for Organization members either.

"Why are we coming this way? Do you even know where you're going?" Riku asked from behind her. There was no answer from her; instead, she kept walking fervently toward wherever her instincts told her too. Though, due to this state of mind, she was still oblivious to Saïx walking down the hallway a little farther down; but Riku spotted him and managed to grab Saiyoku before she was walking side by side with the Nobody.

"What the heck are you doing!" Riku hissed in her ear.

"I was just following my instincts."

"Well your instincts lead to idiocy. You didn't even SEE him yet you were almost walking right next to him!" Riku watched carefully as the man walked into a smaller hallway just to the left.

"Who?"

"SAÏX!" Riku moaned, "That's it, I'm not following you any more. You're just going to cause problems with you in this mental state."

"Mental state!" Saiyoku looked appalled, "I am NOT crazy."

"Well then, start acting sane. Like I said earlier, we need to leave before you really go and do something completely stupid." He grabbed her hand and dragged her back the way they had come, Saiyoku protesting the whole way.

"I'm not crazy! I know where I'm going! You're the one who's going the wrong way!" She pried at his fingers, but he refused to let go.

"I don't know what you are anymore! Sane or insane, I'm the one who's going to decide where to go from now on!"

"Like you hadn't already done that before…" she muttered, scowling; but the scowl faded immediately when another piece of knowledge formed in her head. She planted her feet firmly on the ground and refused to move, giving even Riku a hard time.

"C'mon, Saiyoku!"

"No."

"What do you not understand about what we just discussed?"

"Kairi."

"What?"

"She's the one who's in the castle. I just know it."

"Kairi's here! Where?"

"In the place I was leading you, stupid. That settles it. I'm following you this way now."

"But we have to go back."

"Are you going to fight me the whole way there? I'm NOT going to where she is."

"Not this again. Fine, you go that way and I'll go this way. Do whatever you want. We'll meet up at the Gray Room."

"Fine," Saiyoku said, and she huffed off in the opposite direction of him. _He shouldn't tell me what to do… like heck I would go back to that room if SHE'S there._ She continued to walk down the hall until she reached a dead end. Opening a Dark Portal, she stepped through into Ruin and Creation's Passage… once again ending upside down.

"Dang it! Not again!" She mentally hit herself and looked around. There was no main walkway—just some floating floor pieces here and there with green bars on certain ends. They looked sturdy enough, so she prepared herself to jump onto the nearest one. She held onto the portal, measured the distance, and launched herself to the platform.

"Whaagh!" She yelped. She had missed it nearly by an inch, and was falling to heck knows where, unable to grab hold of the side. She summoned her Keyblade instantly and swung up, latching the teeth onto the metal edge, just barely holding on.

There she was, hanging off the side of a platform… with a seemingly bottomless pit beneath her. Just. Perfect. "Agh! How did I MISS THAT!" She screamed, holding on tight to the hilt while swinging back and forth to try and create enough force to grab hold of the side… or just land on top of the platform. Eventually, she gained enough speed to fling herself up onto the side, hitting it with the bottom of her foot and boosting herself up. But her foot slipped, sending her backward just as she was about to grab a raised section of the platform.

She didn't fall though—a hand grabbed her wrist just in time, pulling her up onto the platform, "I knew it. It was a bad idea to let you go off on your own when you're not exactly fully sane at this point…"

Saiyoku looked up into Riku's ocean blue eyes and frowned, "I could've handled it."

"Sure. You nearly fell back into a pit after almost falling in there the first time and you say you can 'handle it'. What a load of—"

"—thank you." She interrupted him; she could feel her face grow red.

"What?"

"Thank you… you're right. I was going to fall again if you hadn't come along and grabbed my hand. Thanks," She said quietly, looking down at the floor. He raised an eyebrow and pulled off the glove on his right hand, lifting her face and feeling her forehead, "Are you really the same Saiyoku that I just had an argument with in the hallway?"

She smirked, pulling away his hand, "I'm fine. I'm just not at the top of my game today."

"You've had a lot pushed on you today. I'm surprised you're doing as well as you are."

"Well, ya know, gotta think positive."

"You're not Sora."

"Worth a shot," she shrugged, walking past him to the other end of the platform, "So, where's Kairi?"

"She's not there, but we should be able to find her in the direction of Naught's Approach, since that's over by the dungeon."

"Oh…" she muttered, but immediately brightening up, "By the way…"

"Yeah?"

"The fact that you knew where I was and managed to get here at the exact same that I needed help officially proves that you are a professional stalker," she smiled, pointing her finger at him.

"What! B-but, it was just because you left your portal open and—I'm not a stalker!"

"Fine. If you're not a stalker… then you're a professional creeper. End of subject. C'mon, let's head over to Naught's Approach. I'll have to face her eventually, so might as well get the torture over with. Let's go, creeper."

"Not this again!"

"Creeper."

"I'm not a creeper! Stop accusing me of that!"

**Author's note:**

**At last! I'm sorry you guys! I know it's been like… five weeks(?) since I last updated, but I'm honest when I say that ever since I did, I have been slammed with homework. Heh, I kinda realized that my grades had dropped in several classes due to my constant updating on FanFiction, so in order to try and get those back up, I have been working on homework and studying hard instead of working on FanFiction. Although it's almost exam week and I really ought to study, I finally fit it in my schedule due to the annoyance of some of my readers at school (*cough cough* Mikomi!*cough*) and a few hate mail… jeez, at least I know you guys like it! Anyway, after exam week, which begins May 24****th****, and when summer vacation begins, I will finally be free to update as much as I want. So, in other words, be prepared for a lot of updates in a short time. But, this is also a warning that I will probably not have another chapter up until then since I will be slamming my face in my Latin book preparing for my probably-very-hard-Latin-exam-thanks-to-my-awesome-yet-insanely-obsessed-with-hard-tests-teacher. (I'm thinking about bribing him with Playmobiles—he adores them and has a collection at school 'cause he's a fellow nerd like me!—to make it easier… think it'll work?) Anyway, enough rambling from me! Thanks for your patience guys! See you in summer vacation! YEAH!**

**~SaiyokuRiku~**


	18. Finit in Conspectus II

"Saiyoku! Wait up!"

"Aren't you usually the one in the lead? So, are you coming or what?"

"I thought you hated Kairi, so why is it that you seem so anxious to get over there?"

"I'm not. I figured you were and I was just leading the way."

Riku froze, "Uh… you aren't angry at me?"

She slowed to a stop and glanced behind her, "Angry? That's a bit off topic. No, why?"

"You're not? That's not like you. I mean, I— never mind."

Saiyoku laughed, "Alright. Why don't we leave the subject alone? Probably best for both of us."

"Yeah."

"Come on, we need to get to Naught's Approach. We'd better hurry."

"How about a quicker way?" He opened up a Dark Portal and motioned for me to go through it.

"Right… forgot about that."

"Yep, we could've gotten there a lot faster."

"Well then, let's go."

Saiyoku stepped through, but froze immediately after. Riku followed her, and seeing her frozen, grabbed her shoulder.

"Saiyoku?"

"_Saiyoku, I need you to do me a favor," _Aqua's voice echoed inside her head.

_What is it?_ She thought.

"_I need you to give this to Kairi. She needs to have it for the future."_

A flash of light went off in her head and she visualized a flowery Keyblade with Aqua holding it out to her. _Why? Isn't it yours?_

"_She created it and gave it to me. She won't remember, but she's the one who needs it now."_

_Fine._

"Saiyoku? Hey, c'mon, don't blank out on me now."

"Sorry. Aqua just asked me for a favor."

"And that is?"

"I'll explain it later," she said, flicking her hand upward to open another portal. Riku grabbed her hand before she opened it up, "How about I open it? We don't need you opening an upside down portal now, do we?"

"…Fine. Show off," she muttered. With one quick flick of his hand, the gap opened up and they peeked through… appearing right behind Saïx and two Berserkers that were blocking Kairi and Naminè's way.

"You take out the one on the left, and I'll take out the one on the right. Kairi can't know it's us," Riku whispered pointing to the two lesser Nobodies and pulling up his hood.

"Got it," Saiyoku pulled up her hood as well and slid out to the side, creeping up behind her victim. They both drew their Keyblades and brought the blades down on their enemies, striking them down with one blow.

"—this would be where I die of laughter," Saïx held out his arms, but turned when he heard the sound of metal hitting the Nobodies.

"You two… Didn't Roxas take care of you?" He looked at Riku.

Naminè relaxed, "You can take it from here, Riku, Saiyoku," and Kairi looked questioningly at her own Nobody, "Riku! Saiyoku!" _Thanks Naminè. That kind of ruined the point of 'Kairi can't know it's us' and our hoods up,_ Saiyoku thought, mentally smacking her head. She turned to the two of them, but nothing more than that. Riku put away his Keyblade and shot a blast of Dark flame at Saïx, who merely held up his arms in defense and back-flipped toward the wall. But Riku charged and pinned him to the wall by his shoulders. That didn't hold him—he opened up a portal behind him and slid through it, disappearing from Riku and Saiyoku's sight.

"Wait!" Kairi chased after Riku as he began to step through after Saïx, but Saiyoku stepped in between them, narrowing her eyes—an unseen glare to her rival.

"S-Saiyoku?"

Pluto came running up from out of nowhere, backing Riku away from the portal. Saiyoku closed it with a wave of her hand and tried to get Pluto's attention without saying anything, but it wasn't quite working…

While she was busy, Kairi went around her and tried to see Riku by pulling down his hood, "Riku… you're really here…" Saiyoku finally grabbed Pluto and patted his head, sitting down next to him and sticking out her tongue and making a choking noise, "Gack!" She went back to glaring at Kairi while Riku's hood was removed and Kairi gasped when she saw what Riku really looked like.

"R-Riku? What's… what's going on?"

"Well, what do you think, Kairi?" Saiyoku asked, her voice in monotone.

"Saiyoku? That is you, isn't it?"

"Duh. Who else would it be?" She removed her hood and resumed petting Pluto on his head. Kairi looked at Riku; it was obvious she was confused.

"You are Riku, right?"

"Well, Ansem? You wanted to see her so badly! So, go ahead and tell her. Or did we come here for nothing?" Saiyoku egged him on, trying to move the situation forward.

"She would've been taken by Saïx again if we hadn't come here you know."

"Good rid—er, I mean, that's true. But we're also kind of defeating the purpose of coming here originally if you don't TALK TO HER."

"…I know you're Riku. I can tell by the way you talk to Saiyoku and by the way she talks back to you. But why did she call you Ansem? Why do you look like that? Why is it you feel that you don't want anyone to know it's you? And why are you dressed in the Organization uniforms?" Kairi immediately started spouting questions right and left, just adding to Saiyoku's frustration.

"Kairi. Kairi. KAIRI SHUT UP FOR A SECOND!" She groaned when the princess finally stopped speaking and continued, "Too many questions at one time. Slow down."

"I'll explain more when we find Sora."

"Sora's really here? I thought… never mind."

"Yeah, he's really here. We should go and find him before he hurts himself," Riku muttered. Saiyoku grinned, "Back to insulting him I see."

"Shut up."

"Bite me. Anyway, let's get going. If he entered the castle from the bottom, then he should be around the Hall of Empty Melodies by now. Let's just hope he isn't in any trouble."

"Let's go."

They back-tracked through Proof of Existence, where only a few of the tombstone-like doorways were still standing. They entered the doorway that was labeled 'the Freeshooter' which led to a room with two separate stairways that each led to the two upper balconies in the Hall of Empty Melodies.

"You said he's in there, right?"

"Yeah," Saiyoku nodded, "Go up the left stairway and onto the balcony."

"Okay. Thanks, Saiyoku."

"No problem…" she muttered as she watched the red-head run up the stairs and disappear.

"You still don't seem too happy about this."

"Why would I be? I'd much rather leave her here, grab Sora, and go back to Destiny Islands. Then it'd just be the three of us, just like it used to be. Kairi can go back to her world."

"It certainly sounds like you're back to normal and not insane like earlier."

"I never was insane. C'mon, let's go. Kairi's probably already gotten into trouble," she ran up the stairs and looked over the balcony. Kairi was surrounded by Heartless… as usual. She sighed and waved for Riku to hurry up, "I'd go help her if I were you."

"Why do you have to be right?"

"'Cause I always am. Oh, this is what Aqua asked me to do," she said as she summoned the Keyblade she had seen in her head. She handed it to Riku and smiled, "You give it to her."

"Why?"

"Just do it."

"Fine."

He jumped over the balcony ledge and picked Kairi up, killing the Heartless just with his Dark Aura. Saiyoku jumped after him, drawing her Keyblade, "Looks like the fun's just beginning."

"Take it," Riku said, handing Kairi the Keyblade. She held it delicately at first, but then gripped it and swung it down, "This time… I'LL fight. You know Sora's completely hopeless without us. C'mon you two!" She ran forward and took out Shadows one by one.

"I think she means he's completely hopeless without US. But, for now, I'll overlook it," Saiyoku ran forward and took out several of the Heartless quickly, Riku following her as usual. Even after taking out the original group, more and more kept coming.

"Agh! Where are all of them coming from!" She screamed as she took out one of the larger ones that had appeared, "Stupid Heartless! How the heck am I even one of you! And if I am, shouldn't you guys like me!" She pierced another one and moved on to the next, ending up next to Riku.

"Maybe it's because you're also a Nobody, remember? They don't like them."

"And maybe it's the same for the Nobodies. I'm a Heartless, so vice versa. Yippee. Why can't I just be one and make these stupid things go away?"

"Because life isn't fair like that."

"Of course it's not."

"_Yeah, it never is."_

"_We wish it was though."_

_WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU GUYS BACK FOR! _She took out four more Heartless in frustration.

"_We've always been here. By the way, nice going with Riku back in Twilight Town. Ha ha."_

_SHUT UP TERRA!_ She blushed.

"_Yeah, that was unnecessary."_

"_I don't get to have fun like that often, and besides Ven, you know it was necessary."_

_GO AWAY!_ She took out three more.

"_How the heck was it necessary?"_

"_Because we require fun in her mind. Getting stuck in a girl's mind with raging hormones at the time is not exactly my idea of fun."_

"_We've been through worse."_

"_No, I think this tops it all."_

_WOULD YOU TWO GET THE HECK OUT OF HERE! I'M NOT IN THE MOOD!_

"_Fine. We'll just go back into the depths of your mind and sulk again."_

"_Sorry for the trouble, Saiyoku."_

_Ven, I forgive you. Terra? NO. NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!_

"_In that case, if you ever need me, feel free to ask. Terra might want some action too, so if you don't want him annoying you like this, then I would ask for his help sometimes. Even if he's not your favorite person at the moment. Bye!"_

"Those two have the worst timing ever!" Saiyoku muttered, taking out the last of the Shadows. She suddenly realized that there were more than just Kairi and Riku on the balcony with her. Sora, Donald, and Goofy were up there too, putting away their weapons like Kairi. Saiyoku and Riku did the same as the three companions turned around.

"Kairi, you were great!" Donald said, catching her attention. She turned around and giggled, flipping her hair. Saiyoku felt a sudden urge to gag, but resisted… for Riku's sake. The princess and Sora approached each other, both a little hesitant.

"You are different, Kairi, but I'm just glad you're here!"

"You, Riku, and Saiyoku never came home, so I came looking for you."

Saiyoku sighed and muttered to Riku, "Yeah, sure she did. The only reason she's here is thanks to Axel and you."

"You're the one who sent her to Twilight Town. It's partially your fault."

"I fixed your problem in doing that."

"You only made matters worse," he whispered as he opened another Dark Portal behind him.

"Did not. End of subject. Hey, are we leaving already? Aww, I thought we were all going back together."

"I'm leaving. You can stay and go take care of Xemnas. He is using Kingdom Hearts in ways that involve you more than anyone could ever imagine. Your problem. Besides, I don't belong here."

"Don't tell me you're throwing another emo party."

"Shut up," he muttered as he walked toward the dark hole.

"Wait, Ansem!" Sora's voice called out from behind him, making him stop, "I mean, Xehanort's Heartless… I never thought for a second that I'd ever see YOU again. Just thinking about all the things you did makes me really mad. But… But you saved Kairi, right? I have to be grateful for that… Thanks. And… Saiyoku, I never thought I'd see you hanging around Xehanort's Heartless after closing the door with Riku. But I'm glad to see you're doing okay."

Saiyoku smiled and waved her hand to close the portal, "Well, you'd be surprised about a lot of things, Sora. I'll explain it all later."

Riku ignored them and continued to walk forward, determined to get away; but Kairi ran after him, grabbing his arm, "Riku, don't go!"

Saiyoku looked back at Sora and his friends, waiting for their reactions to that sudden truth. They all looked at Kairi like she was crazy, "Kairi, what did you just say?"

She looked back at them, "Riku."

"I'm no one—just a castaway from the Darkness."

Saiyoku smacked her forehead and murmured under her breath, "When, when, when did he become such an emo kid? You idiot…"

"Sora, come here. Say something to him."

He obliged, though obviously confused. Kairi took his hand and took Riku's hand, "Saiyoku, come over here too."

She rolled her eyes and obliged too, letting Kairi take her hand and place it on Riku's and Sora's. She turned to Sora, "Here, you'll understand. Close your eyes." He did, and for a short time, he kept them closed. When he opened them again, he immediately crumpled to the floor, tears pouring from his eyes. Saiyoku removed her hand, as well as Kairi.

"Riku… It's Riku. Riku's here… I looked for you!"

"C'mon, Sora. You've got to pull it together."

"I looked everywhere for you!" He looked up at his best friend. "I didn't want you to find me."

"But it was him that was helpin' us, wasn't it?" Goofy asked Donald.

"Huh?"

"Those clues we kept finding. That musta been Riku."

"With a little help!" Saiyoku added.

"I was starting to worry you guys weren't ever gonna catch on," he said as Sora stood up, "Sora never did pick the brightest friends."

"What do you mean by that!" Donald narrowed his eyes.

"Why didn't you let me know you were okay?" Sora asked.

"I told you. I didn't want to be found. Not like this… I couldn't. I fought with Ansem. With… Xehanort's Heartless—when it invaded my heart, and I won. But to use the power of Darkness, I had to become Ansem myself."

"Why did you let Saiyoku know then?"

"I kinda came along for the ride. I did get stuck behind the door with him, remember? But we've had our fair share of problems too y'know. And there was always a reason we couldn't come see you guys." She explained.

"So… when you became Ansem… does that mean… you can't change back?" Kairi asked.

"This battle isn't over. And until it is, I still need the power of Darkness."

"Then… let's finish it. You're still Riku, no matter what!" Sora said, and everyone nodded in agreement, "So how 'bout it: Think we can handle one last rumble together? The King's waiting!"

"Yeah! Let's get going!" Donald said enthusiastically.

"Sora, you certainly haven't changed. You're still as optimistic as ever," Saiyoku laughed while patting his head. But her smile faded as a sharp ache erupted through her whole body. Her breathing faltered for a second and her heart skipped a beat. She sauntered over to Riku and whispered, "Riku… something's happening to me. I don't know what."

"Relax, everything will be alright. I promise. I'm sure it'll go away eventually."

"I hope you're right."


	19. Finit in Conspectus III

They ran through the doorway leading to the Proof of Existence and looked around. The hallway to Naught's Approach was sealed off by a round barrier, while the final tombstones' doorways were wide open.

"Well, looks like the only way to get through there is if we defeat the final two Nobodies in their doorways."

"Way to go Xemnas for getting rid of the small fry," Saiyoku raised her fist a little, but felt an aching pain in her chest again. She backed away from the group a little, and checked the area the pain was coming from. She gasped when she saw the area fading away into codes and numbers-muscle and all. Pretty soon, she'd have a huge hole going right through her, and then... who knows? How large would the hole grow?

"Something wrong?" Riku asked, worried. She leaned in and whispered, "I'm fading away."

"What?" He whispered back.

"In my chest... there's a huge hole. It's getting bigger and bigger, and all the muscle and tissue and skin is dissolving into codes. What's happening!" Her voice cracked when she asked him, panic rising.

"I don't-I don't know what's going on... I don't know what to do."

"Neither do I!"

"Well, we can't tell the others. Just... Just... Stay here. Okay? We'll go handle whatever's behind those doors."

"F-Fine but-" She gasped in pain as she felt the hole get bigger.

"Just stay here."

Riku and the others went on ahead through the door on the left, leaving Saiyoku alone. She leaned against the farthest tombstone on the right, since it was the most intact.

The group didn't take long, so they came back through the doorway and looked up at the barrier. It hadn't changed, so they decided they would go to the next one.

"Who was it?" Saiyoku asked.

"Luxord," Riku replied, and Saiyoku sighed, "So that means... Saïx is left? Aww, I wanna kick his butt!"

"No, you need to stay here."

"But I can help!"

"No you can't!"

"I can too!"

"No! You're in no condition to do anything like what we're gonna do!"

"Riku!" She screamed. He pushed on her shoulder and made her sit down. She could feel herself caving in, so she obliged.

"So... what happened to her, Riku?" Sora asked, and Saiyoku just growled.

"She was injured in another world."

"Are you talking about my burns? I'm fine! Those healed when we first got here!"

"You're gonna sit here anyway."

They went into the next door on the right, and Saiyoku watched them go with envy. As soon as they went through, the other tombstone crumbled away, and the barrier opened. Saiyoku looked up, but her mind went fuzzy as soon as she saw the hallway. Her body began to move on it's own, and it dragged her through the doorway, up into Naught's Approach, where it stopped when it reached the top platform. Her mind fuzzed in and out as she felt more of her body turn into codes. It had now covered her the lower part of her left cheek and the left side of her neck. Her arm was barely hanging on by her back. In fact, it was now useless.

Up on the platform, Ansem the Wise and the King were watching a machine that was shooting a beam up into the heart-shaped moon: Kingdom Hearts.

"This seems to be going well," Ansem said, and Mickey looked confused, "How can ya tell?"

"The encoding is going smoothly."

"Oh."

"W-What are you doing!" Saiyoku asked groggily, feeling the codes move up onto her eye. She soon lost her sight in her eye.

"Saiyoku!" Ansem and Mickey shouted at the same time, appalled by her appearance.

"What are you doing!" She burst out, feeling her arm sag as it was becoming consumed.

"We're encoding Kingdom Hearts into data," Ansem said, gesturing to the machine.

"No! D-Don't do that! You can't! It's going to... It's... Look what it's doing to me!" She screamed, pointing to the left side of her face, "Stop it! Turn it off! It's destroying me! It's encoding me as well! STOP IT!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, and the machine started to make strange noises and the beam wavered.

"Ansem, what's going on?" Mickey asked, and Ansem looked at Saiyoku intriguingly.

"It seems you didn't tell me something about yourself when you were helping me."

"I... I didn't even know... myself..." She panted, and Mickey asked, "Ansem?"

Ansem laughed, "I'm a fool. I spent years studying the workings of the heart. Yet it seems I still haven't learned a thing."

"What d'ya mean?" Mickey asked.

"The process of encoding hearts into data is incalculable. The inhabitants of my Twilight Town were data created from real hearts. I was convinced that they would think and behave the way I had envisioned; but I couldn't have been more wrong. A heart is so much more than any system," He looked at Mickey, "I saw it when Roxas and Kairi crossed paths. I knew. But I was too stubborn to accept it," He looked up at the giant heart, "It's always the same. I try to wrap my mind around things my heart already knows, only to fail. While I was trying to bring Sora back, I had so many plans in store. But once Sora was an acting force, they fell apart. All my research amounted to nothing compared with that one boy's heart. And now it seems... there's a new development I could have never begun to imagine... Saiyoku it seems... has a very special connection to Kingdom Hearts... and such a strong and strange connection, that it's causing her to be encoded as well. Tell me... what are you?"

"I'm... the living... Kingdom Hearts," she panted, "I can't say... I could've told you... when we first... met, because I... just found out... myself. But when you... encode Kingdom... Hearts, you encode... me. We're one, and..." She held her stomach and fell to her knees, grimacing in pain.

"Saiyoku!" Mickey looked at her, but caught sight of the machine, "Ansem, the machine!"

"All the more proof that hearts cannot be contained by data. You never know when something much bigger than us has plans of it's own. Run my friends! It's going to self-destruct, and anything could happen!"

"But..." Mickey began, but footsteps interrupted him, followed by Sora's voice, "Your Majesty!"

"Sora, the rest is up to you," Ansem looked back at the naïve boy, "And Roxas- I doubt you can hear me but... I am sorry..."

"Ansem!"

"My heart is telling me what I must do. Please allow me to do what it says."

"No!" Mickey reached out, but Riku appeared behind him and held him back, "Riku!"

"His heart's decided. We can't change that. Saiyoku... you're face... you're falling apart."

Before she could respond, Xemnas appeared, the Dark portal falling around him.

"I was wondering who would dare interfere with my Kingdom Hearts. And look-here you all are. How convenient for me. Ansem the Wise. You look pathetic."

"Have your laugh. I deserve as much for failing to see you for the fool you are."

"Student do take after their teachers. Only a fool would be your apprentice. After all, none of this would have happened without you. YOU are the source of all Heartless. It was your research that inspired me to go further than you ever dared."

"I admit... my disregard brought chaos to more worlds than one. But what were YOU seeking? You erased me from the world only to take my name and continue research better left forgotten. Is this the answer you've been looking for?"

"All that and more."

Riku kneeled next to Saiyoku and looked her over. Her left arm was gone, her face was being eaten away, her legs were being devoured, and the code was moving across her chest.

"What?"

"It's that machine. The machine is encoding Kingdom Hearts, and in turn it's encoding me. You have to stop that machine!"

"But it looks like it's just about ready to blow up! What am I supposed to do?"

"I DON'T KNOW!"

"Xehanort. Foolish apprentice of a foolish man. You have surpassed nothing, only proved how little we both know. We may profess to know the heart, but its essence is beyond our reach. We're both ignorant... as oblivious as when we began. I'm afraid that any world YOU try to create... Any world of yours, would be an empire of ignorance. That's why you and your creation are destined to fall! We've said enough! Riku, you know what to do. King Mickey, Saiyoku, my friends... forgive me. Farewell!"

The machine grew brighter and brighter, and the light seemed to blast outward. Riku grabbed Saiyoku around what was left of her waist and pushed Sora back, who was trying to stop Ansem from blowing himself up. The light then sucked back in, and shot upward, creating a spinning vortex. They were all pushed to the ground, and Riku lost his grip around Saiyoku. People were sent in different directions, and Ansem's form disappeared.

When the light faded, and the vortex cleared, everyone was scattered. Sora, Kairi, Donald, Goofy, and King Mickey were in one corner of the platform, while Saiyoku and Riku were on the other side. Riku's arm was wrapped over Saiyoku's waist, limply, since they were both knocked out.

But everyone gained consciousness soon enough, and Sora was the first to awaken. He lifted himself to all fours, and saw Riku and Saiyoku on the other side.

"Riku? Saiyoku?" He got up and ran to their sides, while Riku managed to get up on all fours, groaning. Saiyoku still lay limp, but Sora was side-tracked. (He does have a one-track mind...) Riku had completely changed back to normal, apart from the fact that he was still wearing his blindfold.

"Riku!" Sora said happily, grinning from ear to ear. Riku looked at him, utterly confused by his expression. Everyone gathered around, and Donald and Goofy made dramatic 'wow's'.

"Riku!" Kairi said, bouncing a bit where she stood. He looked at all them, still confused, when Mickey said, "Ansem did say 'anything could happen'."

They all stood up and looked at the spot where Ansem had been, only to see nothing there, not even the machine. Sora turned to Riku and asked, "Riku, you gonna take that off?" Indicating the blindfold.

"Oh..." Riku muttered, reaching up and pulling it off. He opened his eyes for the first time in months slowly, but was distracted by the small noise Saiyoku made, still lying on the ground. He immediately kneeled next to her and put a hand on her shoulder. It was a relief to see her still in one piece.

"Saiyoku? Saiyoku, are you okay?"

She groaned again, and opened her eyes, picking herself up and looking at everybody.

"W-Wha...?"

"You're not falling apart anymore. Ansem the Wise is gone, and so is his machine. Same with Xemnas."

An image flashed in front of Saiyoku's eyes: Riku as Ansem melted away into the real Riku. She took a guess at what that meant, "Riku... you're back to normal again, aren't you?"

He smiled a bit, "Yeah. And it looks like so are you."

"I wouldn't say that, Riku..." Mickey said, pointing to Saiyoku's legs. They were growing fainter and fainter until they burst into tiny little pieces, like dust.

"No!" They both said at the same time, but Saiyoku felt two hands on her shoulders.

"_It's time to go, Saiyoku. Kingdom Hearts needs you now."_

"_WE need you now."_

"_We're sorry."_

She looked to either side of her to see Ven and Terra, both only images. No one else could see them. So she didn't say anything, but merely looked at them franticly as she tried to think of a way to stop Kingdom Hearts from taking her. They shook their heads sadly, and she looked up at Riku.

"Riku... I... Terra and Ven..."

His ocean blue eyes widened, "They... they said...?"

She looked at him, her eyes brimming with tears, "Riku... I-I'm... I'm scared..." She looked down and felt the tears pour over her cheeks.

Saiyoku? Scared? Sure, Riku had seen her scared before, but he had never heard her admit it. This startled him. She must be so terrified.

"Don't be. You'll be fine."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

"Do you think we'll see each other again?" She sniffled, trying to wipe away the tears as her abdomen turned to dust.

"I know we will," He kissed her gently.

She smiled a bit as her chest faded away, and soon her arms, her neck, until all that was left was her head.

"R-Riku..."

"Yeah?" She could hear his voice choke up a bit.

"I lo-" Her voice faded with her head, and the dust swept away up into the sky, all the way to what was left of the imploded Kingdom Hearts.

"Riku, what just...?" Sora and all of them asked, but Riku shook his head, trying to cover up his tears, "I-I'll explain after we defeat Xemnas. That's all we can do for now." He tore off his Organization coat, pants, gloves, and boots, showing off his other outfit.

"Let's go."

They headed up the platform and walked up the stairs to Ruin and Creation's Passage.

"But I didn't even get to tell them goodbye!"

"We're sorry, Saiyoku."

"We really are."

"I didn't even get to tell him I love him..." She muttered.

"Didn't you see the giant hole in Kingdom Hearts? In OUR heart? Just... Just understand our circumstances. You HAD to go back. You were the only one who could help heal it faster. Now most of the hearts are falling down on the world and creating more and more Heartless. You can call them back you know."

"I can... Can call back Heartless?"

"Yes. YOU are the only person in the entire universe who has full control over them when in this state."

"Wait... Didn't you say that once I rejoined with Kingdom Hearts, I would stop existing?"

"You haven't fully rejoined. The process is only beginning."

"So I'm stuck here with you guys?"

"Pretty much."

"Where's Aqua?"

Ventus and Terra both exhaled, "She was never actually here..."

"What?"

"She's still alive. We don't know where... but, she's still alive with her heart intact. We used our powers to recreate her."

"Why?"

"We missed her."

"She's a lot like you, and it seemed fit that all three of us should be there to begin you on this journey."

"So... you recreated her inside my mind?"

"That's why she isn't here now, and that's why she disappeared earlier. You haven't seen her in a while, have you?"

"No."

"Our point exactly."

"You know, this really isn't that bad. I mean, I don't have to deal with physical injuries, I don't have to deal with Kairi, and I can get all the answers I want now."

"Very true. But what happens when you cease to exist?"

"Then I won't like it."

"Ahuh..."

They all laughed, and continued talking, Saiyoku asking tons of questions. Not about her as the living Kingdom Hearts, but them. Where they lived, what they enjoyed doing, and things like that.

"Where's Xemnas?" Sora asked, and Donald looked around and snapped his attention to the now closer than ever Kingdom Hearts, "What?"

Xemnas was inside the gigantic hole in Kingdom Hearts, arms raised above his head.

"Hear me, Kingdom Hearts. It seems we must begin anew. Ah, but know this: I will give to you as many hearts as it takes. Mark my words. You can no more be complete without me than I without you. Heed me, Kingdom Hearts. Lend me your power, so that we may be complete. The power to erase the fools that hinder us."

Saiyoku immediately felt an intense bodily pain, like her own lifeforce was being sucked out. Xemnas' words echoed in her head, and she screamed, "No! I won't lend you my power! This is me, you hear that! You can't have my power! I don't need you! And those are my friends you want to erase! Don't you dare lay a hand on them!" She was completely unheard by everyone except Ven and Terra, but everyone else tried to stop him as well.

"Xemnas! No!" Mickey yelled, but the Nobody continued.

"Hearts quivering with hatred."

Sora shouted, "Xemnas! Don't!"

"Hearts burning with rage."

"You'll never win!" Donald yelled, stomping his webbed feet on the ground.

"Hearts scarred by envy. That fool Ansem said that the heart's nature was beyond his understanding. But it's not beyond mine! Hearts are the source of all power!"

Kingdom Hearts began radiating an intense light, and everyone down on the platform shielded their eyes. Saiyoku let out a bloodcurdling scream of pain as Xemnas ripped most of her power from her, and Riku could've sworn he had heard it. The light faded, and Xemnas was gone, as well as the pain; but Saiyoku still felt horrible.

"Xemnas! You can't hide from us!" Sora shouted at the empty hole.

Mickey looked at the others, "We're not gonna let him get away now."

"No you're not. I'm gonna help you guys out." Saiyoku said shakily, and used what was left of her power to summon a door using all of the worlds out there. Kairi turned around and pointed at it, "Look at that!"

"What's goin' on?" Goofy asked, and the king responded, "Kingdom Hearts."

"Let's go. Xemnas must be inside," Riku pressed.

"The worlds gave us this doorway. They want us to be the guardians of their destiny!" The king stated, but Riku corrected him, "No... Saiyoku's the one who gave this to us... I'm sure of it. She wanted to help out, even if she can't do it physically."

Sora nodded, and Riku continued, "Once we go through, there's no turning back. It's victory... or oblivion. So, Sora... are you ready?"

"Of course. If Saiyoku's ready to help out too, then let's go!"

"You do realize you just probably sped up the rejoining process by using that much power, right?" Terra asked, but Saiyoku ignored him.

"Ventus, what else can I do to help?"

"Hm... well... not right now. You don't have enough power. Just wait."

"Ok-" She stopped and screamed as Xemnas raged inside his own installment of the inside of Kingdom Hearts, "XEMNAS! GIVE ME BACK MY POWER!"

"He wants you to get angry, Saiyoku. He knows about you! Remember! I'm him, he's me, except he's a Nobody and I'm part of your heart," Terra reminded her.

"S-So that makes... me... a part of... him too?" She panted, still in pain.

"In a way, yes."

She screamed again, this time out of anger.

"Saiyoku, you really need to calm down. Your friends aren't ever going to win if you keep getting upset like this. This is how you help. You don't succumb to anger, pain, rage, envy, hatred, or sadness. Stay happy. Okay? Think of the islands, think of your friends, think of Riku. Anything to make you happy, okay? That's the only way you can help them right now," Ven said soothingly, attempting to calm her down.

She listened and tried to make herself happy... but that was easier said than done. Ventus and Terra tried to entertain her until her friends were done destroying Xemnas... which didn't take as long as they thought it would be, considering Saiyoku's inability to stay happy for a long period of time at the moment.

"You have enough power to kick him out now. Do it. DO IT NOW!" Terra urged her, and she used her power to push him out of his world and back onto the platform.

"There, he's out now. You don't have to be as happy."

"Yeah, but now I'm happy."

"Whatever."

They watched as the group down on the platform reunited for real and talked a bit, ready to go to their homes. Sora even made Riku laugh! (If not just a little bit). But then the tower quaked, and Mickey urged the others to leave. But Riku couldn't open a portal, so Saiyoku asked, "How come he can't open one like always?"

"Because now he has to wear the coat in order to open one, like you."

"Why? I thought because he was farther into the dark, he could open one by himself."

"Well... You changed that. Besides, this battle has shown that he is now part of the light, more than the dark."

"So, now he's like me?"

"In a matter of inner light and dark... yes."

"Interesting and-hey, is that Naminé?" Saiyoku watched Naminé, Roxas, Sora, and Kairi chat, after the king, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto went through the Dark Portal Naminé had opened. Riku stayed behind, watching the couples talk. But soon, the two Nobodies rejoined with their original selves, and disappeared.

"So those were the only two Nobodies that got to rejoin with their original selves... Sad..."

"That's not true. In a way, you count."

"Not funny. And I'm special."

"We know."

"Hey, do you guys sense something?"

"Evil?"

"No... empty."

"As in...?"

"A Nobody."

"Two just disappeared... so of course you would still sense-"

"No, those two aren't empty anymore. I think..."

"You think Xemnas isn't dead..."

"Exactly."

"Now that I think about it... He didn't dissipate the right way, like normal Nobodies."

"He's still alive!"

"If just barely..."

"We have to take care of him!"

"How?"

Saiyoku closed the Dark Portal just after Kairi left, leaving Riku and Sora behind, "That's how."

"Now we're gonna help some other way... aren't we?"

"You bet. Ven, help me out."

"Sure."

"What can I do?"

"Megalaser."

"What?"

"You see that hovercraft they're riding? It's equipped with a laser, but it's useless without any power. However... when absorbing powers from Nobodies, it becomes charged, and it can shoot the laser. But this power is miniscule. You're going to amplify the laser whenever they get enough power, and then, presto! You get megalaser! And it'll take down that giant dragon machine in no time!"

"Awesome! Here we go!"

She waited and watched, and before she knew it, it was already her turn. Riku pressed the laser button, and Saiyoku used her power to amplify the laser. A huge white blast of energy shot out from the bottom of the hovercraft and split into two equally large lasers that took out the giant machine dragon on either end of the tail. She kept doing the same routine, and eventually, they had rid it of its tail, its engines, and its wings. It sunk to the ground but it changed, turning the entire area into a void with a giant black hole behind them and several skyscraper buildings floating around.

"What now?"

"Um... just don't let them fly into the black hole."

"Easy enough."

She watched and protected them from flying back, creating a barrier every time they got near it. They destroyed the king-like figure sitting in the chair fairly quickly, but the landscape changed yet again, but this time... Saiyoku couldn't see them.

"W-Where'd they go!"

"They're in a place between Kingdom Hearts... and The World that Never Was. It's basically a place where there's only one way to get in... and no way to get out."

"Then how...?"

"You can help them when they've defeated them."

"Hey Terra? Where's Destiny Islands?"

"What?"

"Destiny Islands. I've heard of it, but I don't know what it is... could you explain? Oh, same with the names, Hollow Bastion, Twilight Town, Traverse Town, Land of Dragons, and some other places, but I can wait."

Terra looked at Ven, "It's begun."

"Yep, time for Saiyoku to rejoin. Knowledge of the worlds go first, since those are some of the most limited memories."

"Pretty soon, she'll be asking us who Yuffie, Cid, and Leon are."

"And Ansem."

"Yeah... she'll ask about him."

"And then..."

"And then she'll forget who the king is, and who Donald and Goofy are..."

"And pretty soon... she'll forget all about Riku and Sora and Kairi."

"And then herself..."

"It's sad."

"It's her fault."

"She wanted to help her friends."

"But she'll forget all about them."

"She was going to forget about them anyway."

"They'll forget her. They'll forget she even existed."

"I don't think they will."

"She won't exist. You can't remember someone who doesn't exist! That's what happened to Xio-"

"Shh! We're the only ones who remember! And that's just cause our hearts weren't truly touched by hers! We can't mention her. She never existed."

"I know, but I was proving-"

"Guys?"

"What?" They both asked, annoyed.

"I wanna go home."

"You are home," Terra replied, but Saiyoku whined, "No, I want to go HOME. The home where Riku, Sora, and Kairi live."

"Great, her mentality has even decreased in age..." Terra muttered.

"It did not. She's just mentally confused and isn't coping with the amnesia very well. She's just forgetting!"

"Well, we'll see how long we have. Saiyoku, do you know who Xemnas is?"

"A Nobody."

"More detail please."

She explained, and Terra sighed, "Well, we still have a few hours."

"Good to know."


	20. Before it Even Mattered

"You're fading away even faster now, aren't you?"

"Yeah. How many hours do I have left?"

"I'd say it's more like a matter of minutes," Terra corrected, "So, let's test your memory. Leon?"

"No idea."

"Traverse Town?"

"Nope."

"Aqua?"

"Who?"

"Kairi?"

"No idea."

"Wow, she doesn't even remember Kairi!" Ven laughed, and asked one more, "Sora?"

"A little... we grew up together, right?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. And the other boy... um... hold on... Riku, right?"

"That took longer than we thought..."

"How long do I have?"

"Ten minutes."

"Ten minutes..." She repeated, sighing, "Well, I guess my time is almost up..."

XXXXXXXXXX

"_Riku?"_

The silver-haired teen looked around for the source of the voice, but he saw no one else on the island. Everyone had gone home, and the sun was setting.

"Guess I imagined it..." He muttered, but he could've sworn that he had heard that voice somewhere before... He stretched out on the Paopu tree and watched the waves come crashing in towards the shore. It was nice to be home with his friends.

But there was always something bothering him. Even though he had been back for two months now, he always felt that something was missing. The island was the only place he seemed to really get a bit of a grasp of what it was...

"What the heck is it?" Riku asked himself, grabbing a Paopu fruit and spinning it in his hands. He held it still at stared at it like he was expecting it to tell him, but when the fruit didn't speak, he tossed it onto the sand below and hopped off the bent tree trunk.

"Guess I'll come up with it tomorrow..." He put his hands in his pockets and crossed the beach to his boat and set sail back to the mainland.

The fact he couldn't remember killed him the rest of the day and into the night. He just couldn't sleep. It was bothering him to the point where he just might go mad! So he got up and took the boat back out to the island, where he paced around the entire landmass, hoping he would come up with something.

He climbed back up to the small islet with the Paopu tree and looked out at the ocean, trying to clear his head. When the issue just wouldn't go away from his mind, he stepped backward toward the tree, where he heard a soft squishing noise.

Riku looked down at his foot to see the star-shaped fruit crushed in half by the sole of his shoe. He picked up the two halves dripping with juice and sighed, "What am I supposed to do with these?"

"_Do you think what they say about the whole destiny thing is true?"_

The voice again. Where was it coming from?

"_Don't you dare Riku! If you take my body in that castle, I'll give you a migraine so bad, that you won't wake up for weeks!"_

"_Now you ARE okay, aren't you?"_

"_Leon already gave me the 'you can't go because you're not strong enough' speech. Don't wanna hear it, so don't waste your breath."_

"What is going on! Who is talking to me!" He asked himself as he looked up at the starry sky, "What is happening to me?"

"_You don't remember?"_

"No! No I don't!" He watched as a shooting star flew across the sky, and he quickly made a wish, "I wish I could remember!"

He looked back down at the Paopu fruit halves and waited patiently for something to come to him, but all he got was a sudden rush of talking in his head-all the same voice.

"Shut up! I can hear you, okay! Now just tell me who the heck you are!"

"_Secret... pl-"_

The voice was suddenly cut off, and Riku tried to piece together the final sentence.

"Secret pl... Secret place? As in, THE secret place?" He looked over his shoulder to the small hole in the rocky wall covered by weeds and vines. He stared at the Paopu fruit halves again and repeated 'secret place' over and over again.

The star fruit fell the sand with a thud as Riku raced over to the small hole and crawled through, adjusting his eyes to the dim light. But as soon as he reached the cave inside, he froze and whispered one word, "...Saiyoku."

In front of him was Saiyoku's body, propped up agains the door and completely lifeless.

"Saiyoku, is it... you're... alive?" He hesitantly took a few steps forward, but she didn't move at all, nor did she show any signs of ever moving again. This time, he dropped down to his knees at her side and checked her pulse. There was none.

"N-No, don't... Don't do this to me, Saiyoku! Don't just appear here and give me hope that you might come back, and then just end up dead right here in front of me! You have to wake up, you have to! You're Kingdom Hearts for cryin' out loud! You can come back... right?" Tears poured down Riku's cheek as he yelled at the empty body, "Don't do this..."

XXXXXXXXX

"Dang it Saiyoku! You messed with it! You messed with it!"

She opened her eyes and saw Terra and Ven standing across from her. Terra's face was contorted with anger, but Ven had a slightly amused expression. The only light in the place was coming from underneath, and she looked down to see a giant stain-glass platform that radiated the light. It was hard to tell what the picture was in the glass from her point of view.

"I messed with what?"

"His heart, dang it, his HEART!"

"Who's heart?"

"Riku's! You made him remember! And now it's come down to this..."

"But... I'm alive. I thought my existence was erased..."

"It was, but as Kingdom Hearts... we think that you accidentally-or purposely-tampered with Riku's heart and made him remember. In that turn of events, your existence was returned, and now..." Ven explained.

"Now what?"

"Now we have to fight each other. Because of the Paopu fruit, you can still go back without your own heart. As long as nothing happens to Kingdom Hearts, you can go home. But, the only way you can leave, is if you fight me and you win. If you win, then I will be forced to forever be Kingdom Hearts. But if I win, then you will forever have to be Kingdom Hearts," Terra said, and he drew his Keyblade.

Saiyoku stood up shakily and drew her Keyblade, "Right... Well, this should be interesting..."

"Saiyoku, I'd be careful if I were you. You're still just coming back into existence, and you won't be at your full power until everyone that you met remembers you."

"Of course, that's why Terra decides that we have to fight now..."

"Of course," He said, and he went into his battle stance. Saiyoku did the same and recoiled, using her weight and strength to launch herself at Terra with as much force as she could. She slashed downward, aiming for his shoulder. But Terra merely blocked it with ease, looking at her as if he was bored.

"What is this? Were you trying to hit me?"

"You bet. Now what are YOU doing?" She was still being pushed against his Keyblade, so she was pushed up in the air. She pulled her feet underneath her and pushed off his weapon and shot up into the air. She flung her Keyblade behind his head, and it sunk into the glass behind his feet. She landed on the handle with her hands and side kicked at his head. Her foot made contact and sent him flying across the glass. She dropped down onto the floor and yanked Rise of the Dawn out of the ground.

Terra picked himself up and smirked, running at her with his Keyblade, "Like that made any difference."

"I didn't think it would... but this might!" She ducked down on all fours as he approached and twisted with her legs out, knocking him over. But he jammed Gaia Bane into the ground to balance himself, and he kicked Saiyoku hard in the gut, throwing her back where she landed on the ground painfully.

"Still think that would work?" He asked.

"Okay, maybe not..." She muttered, slowly picking herself up.

"I see you like to use your knowledge of martial arts and speed to make up for your lack of swordplay... clever. Well, if all you're good for is blocking, then I guess I can throw my weight around a little more," Terra ran at her while she was still getting up-still shaky from just coming back into existence.

She summoned her Keyblade back from wherever it had landed into her hand, but she didn't have enough time to counterattack or dodge, so the heavy weapon hit her on the shoulder, forcing her down onto the ground at his feet. She rolled over and blocked his next downward attack, only to be kicked in the head.

"Gaah!" She screamed as she slid a little ways away. Saiyoku rolled back over onto her stomach and got up on all fours. She got to her feet, expecting another blow from Terra, but he was still standing across from her.

"Had enough yet? Just say the word and I'll stop."

"As if. I don't give up," She panted, picking up her Keyblade. This time, she made the first move. Saiyoku charged at him, but had a new tactic in her mind. She maneuvered around his block and hit him straight on his right wrist, knocking the weapon from his hand. It flew into the air, but Saiyoku batted it down and pinned it to the glass with her own weapon, the teeth sunk in the floor in between the grip and the guard.

Terra's expression stayed calm as he reached his hand out, waiting for the Keyblade to return to his grip, but Saiyoku was faster. She picked up Gaia Bane and went for his hand again. She hit it, and he recoiled. With one swift movement, Saiyoku hit him across the chest, and he went skidding across the glass and over the edge.

She could hear Ven make a small noise of surprise, and soon he was looking over the edge. She joined him and saw Terra hanging on the edge with one hand, looking completely helpless. Who knew how tall this tower was?

"Had enough yet? Just say the word and I'll stop," Saiyoku taunted, but Terra grimaced and tried to grab on to the ledge with his other hand.

"Don't try to help him, Ven. He has to admit defeat before we help him up."

Ven nodded and looked down at his helpless friend, "Terra. She beat you. Give up."

"No!"

"Terra..."

"No! She can't leave! She has to be Kingdom Hearts!"

"She doesn't have to be here! We still exist, whether or not she does. That's not fair to her-that she can't exist and we can, just so we don't have to take the responsibility!"

"We CAN'T fulfill that job Ven! That's why she was created! She was born to do this!"

"Destiny doesn't always pull through. I know that my destiny was changed when I shared that Paopu with Riku, and now my destiny has become yours Terra!" Saiyoku said, putting away her Keyblade.

"Our job is to be Kingdom Hearts now, Terra. Just face it already."

"Your destiny hasn't changed!"

"Yes it has, Terra. Her destiny changed. You and I both believe in the power of the Paopu fruit, and we've seen it work. Saiyoku here is proof enough. The fact that Riku even remembered... the fact that Saiyoku still exists... can't you see that she has to go home! We would've been stuck here anyway. It's not like we can't handle what we've been doing for eleven years now. She's going home, Terra. Whether you accept that or not! I'll send her there myself and push you off the edge!"

"Wait, no! Ven, wait!"

"Then what, Terra? Will you give up?" Saiyoku pressed.

The defeated teenager looked down and was silent for a time. Nobody moved or said a word. And after a moment of silence, Terra looked back up and said, "You may go home. You won."

Gaia Bane disappeared, and both Ven and Saiyoku helped Terra up onto the platform. He brushed himself off and scratched the back of his head sadly, "You'd better get going. I'm sure Riku's really worried by now..."

"Are you guys still going to be visiting me in my head and dreams? Or did that change?" Saiyoku asked, and Ven laughed, "Well-"

"That hasn't changed. So we'll be checking in on you from time to time to make sure that you're fulfilling your 'changed' destiny."

"No spying because you're bored."

"We promise," Ven said happily, elbowing Terra in the ribs. He grunted, "Yeah, we promise."

"Thanks you guys. And though I've been through a lot because of you guys, it's because of you that I exist. There's no way to thank you enough for that. And... I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused. Change doesn't always work well for me..."

"We've noticed. Anyway, off you go. Sora and Kairi have already remembered and have headed to the island, so you better not keep your friends waiting," Terra pushed, and Saiyoku nodded, "Thanks you guys. I'll see you guys around?"

"Of course. We're here when you need us," Ven answered.

"Bye Ven. Bye Terra."

Saiyoku disappeared with a flash of light, and Ven turned to Terra, "She's so much like you."

"Actually... I think she's more like you, Ven."

"Really?"

"I'm just wondering how that happened..."

XXXXXXXX

Saiyoku woke up in a dark cave with the ceiling opened up in a spot, with chalk drawings covering the walls. She sat up and immediately recognized the Secret Place. She just wondered how she got there in the first place, but when she saw Riku sitting against one of the rocks asleep, she forgot about it.

"Riku?"

He didn't move. He stayed in the same position: legs Indian style, his head held up by his right arm, and his face in a tight grimace, yet sad... like he was crying on the inside. Saiyoku crawled to his side-her body was too stiff to walk-and pressed his shoulder, "Riku? Riku, wake up."

He let out a small groan, but didn't wake up, so Saiyoku tried once more; this time, she removed his arm from underneath his head. He immediately woke up and opened his eyes, but didn't quite register that Saiyoku was kneeling next to him; that is, until he tried to use his right arm to run a hand through his hair.

His eyes immediately locked with hers and he put his hands on either side of her face, "S-Sai-"

"Saiyoku!"

"Saiyoku!"

He was interrupted by the cries of Sora and Kairi as they came running down the cave's only tunnel.

"Sora! K-Kairi..." She forced out Kairi's name in the happiest voice she could muster and tried to smile at her. They both immediately barraging her with questions. She patiently waited for them to finish before saying anything. Saiyoku expected Riku to say something, but she assumed he was just quiet because he was depressed that Sora and Kairi had ruined his 'moment'.

"Hey! Why did we forget you?" Sora yelled to get her attention again. She blinked a few times, "Why did you forget me?"

"Yeah. No one on the island remembered you. Not even Riku! It was like you never even existed!"

Saiyoku stood up shakily and pointed toward the cave entrance, "I'll explain once we get outside. I missed this place."

Sora and Kairi nodded, and Sora grabbed Kairi's hand enthusiastically saying, "C'mon Kairi, let's go!"

They ran out the tunnel, leaving Riku and Saiyoku alone.

"Clever. But how long until they come looking for you again?" Riku asked. Saiyoku laughed, "They won't. We're going out there too, stupid."

"Two minutes after you get back, and you're already starting the insults?"

"I missed using them."

"I'm sure there's a lot of things you missed."

"Having a body's one of them. Though, I'm used to it," Her smile grew wider, "But not existing is a first."

He stood up, "I'm sure it is."

"It's fun to see how much everybody missed me. Apparently Sora and Kairi consciously know that they forgot about me, so It'll be fun to see what everyone's reactions are gonna be."

Riku smiled a little as she continued, "But... there's something I remembered that I was gonna tell you before I disappeared."

"Really? What is it?"

She stepped closer and whispered, "I love you," before wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him. When she pulled away, Riku said quietly, "I love you too."

"Not to ruin the moment, but are you guys coming or what?"

"Oh, I so knew Riku had a thing for Saiyoku! Ha ha!" Sora laughed, both Kairi and him back in the tunnel.

"Sora, this is why I made you leave."

"And this is why we came back in. We're not stupid."

"Wanna bet?"

"Sure, how much munny do you have on ya?"

"How about we spar? I just took down another Keyblade master, so I think I can handle you."

"You WHAT!"

"C'mon," Saiyoku walked down the tunnel and out the entrance. Sora and Kairi followed, with Riku in the back.

"I might as well join in, 'cause I agree with Saiyoku."

"I'm so gonna beat you this time Riku!"

"Heh, yeah right!"

"If you two should be worried about anything, it's the fact that I'm gonna beat both of you!"

The group of four ran up the stairs, across the bridge and onto the islet, where they began their little competition games again, for the first time in over a year.

**To be continued...?**

**OH MY GOSH IT'S FINALLY DONE! DESTINED SHADOWS IS OFFICIALLY OVER And... I cannot believe I almost wrote a sappy ending! AHHHHH! Anyway, we'll have to see if I can write about Saiyoku in the possible (but most likely, since they already premiered a bit of it in the ending to birth by sleep... oops! did I spoil something for you guys? I'm sorry!) Kingdom Hearts 3. If I can, I will. I'll just have trouble coming up with a name for it... hrm... two word theme, two word theme... GAH! I'll just think of it later. Anyway, here's a secret about the last dialogue in the story: it's the same dialogue from the opening dialogue in the first chapter of Masked Paradise-the first dialogue I wrote for this story... it's full of happier times...**

**I thank my readers so much, as well as those who have given me tips throughout the story. I especially thank MOJOMAKAVA for her brilliant idea that put Destined Shadows together. Love ya Mojo! I owe ya big time for this crazy, complicated plot! I also thank my awesome friend MikomiShinrai for not punching me (physically) when she found out about Saiyoku and for her support, and I'm also glad that she liked Saiyoku so much, every time there's a cutscene of Riku in the first game, she'd yell at him saying, "Listen to Saiyoku!" Love ya, Mikomi! I'd like to thank NinjaSheik for being the first to comment on my story and the most frequent commenter! And lastly, I'd like to thank Giulia95, for being the person I talk to the most on FF.**

**Well, until next time(?), I'll be seein' you guys!**


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